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Irrigation Controller Stolen, Wirelessly Rescues Itselfwooferhound sends along an amusing piece about thieves who got run over by technology and never knew what hit them. "A Rain Master Eagle-i Irrigation Controller recently stolen out of a housing development just outside of Tucson traveled nearly 80 miles before rescuing itself. The smart controller is now back in place on the wall where it was originally pinched... In this day and age, something that may look passive like an irrigation controller may not be so passive. The thieves didn't realize they were removing equipment that features 2-way wireless communications via the Internet. Three weeks later, the unexpected happened. The Maintenance Supervisor noticed a signal coming in from the stolen controller. He thought it was kind of odd that it was up and running... Whoever had stolen it had plugged it back in."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 4 Jul 2008 | 12:46 pm YouTube order: Does it threaten your privacy? - San Jose Mercury News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 4 Jul 2008 | 12:25 pm Unique pulsars prove Einstein's theoryEinstein's theory of general relativity holds up, according to astrophysicists who tested it against a unique cosmological configuration of two pulsars orbiting each other. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 12:18 pm eFuture Announces Appointment and Hiring of Mr. Deliang Tong as Chief Operating OfficerBEIJING, July 4 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- eFuture Information Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: EFUT) ("eFuture"), a leading provider of front-end supply chain management...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 12:00 pm Midnight Club: LA resurfaces, looks ace - CVG Online
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:57 am Court orders YouTube to give Viacom video logs (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:52 am Study: Price, Not Availability Keeping Dial-Up Users From Broadband - AHN
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:50 am Smallest planet shrinks in size - BBC News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:45 am France Seeks To Push 3-Strikes Law Across Europequanticle writes "As you may recall, France previously threatened to cut off broadband access for file sharers. However, after lobbying by the public, the legislation failed in the National Assembly. Now, the government of Nicolas Sarkozy is trying to revive the the measure by pushing it as an amendment to the pan-European Telecoms Package. This amendment has the potential to impose 3-strikes across Europe, not just in France."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:25 am PREVIEW-LG Display Q2 seen surging, but LCD outlook dimmerSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean flat screen maker LG Display Co Ltd and two smaller Taiwanese rivals are set to post profits for the second quarter that more than trebled thanks to strong...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:22 am Sprint Nextel Receives Significant Boost From Instinct's Sales - eFluxMedia
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:17 am Its not just meSo now The New York Times frets — as I have — that once he got the nomination, Barack Obama has been making u-turns and right turns as he rejects public financing, embraces the Supreme Court’s...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:07 am Opera update fixes stability bugs - Register
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:02 am The Salt Lake Tribune Paul Rolly Column: All Unfair in Gender, PoliticsBy Paul Rolly, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Following Swim Rules Will Avoid FatalitiesBy Keith Purtell, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla. Jul. 4--Ed Fite wants everyone to enjoy swimming in the state's water resources, yet be safe, he said. There are several rules that will help people accomplish that, the said, listing hints from wearing life jackets to ear plugs.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am FLDS Parenting Classes Set: The Lessons, Scheduled to Begin in About 10 Days, Were Required for the Sect to Get Kids BackBy Brooke Adams, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul. 4--A month after their children were returned, FLDS parents are getting the first word about parenting classes the state of Texas has required them to complete.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Fishing TrendsBy South Florida Sun-Sentinel Jul. 4--Bass fishing has been so-so on the main lake and in the rim canal. Bluegills and Mayan cichlids were biting in the canals. Those with airboats were doing well with panfish on the shallow flats off Observation Shoal. The lake level was up to 9.85 feet.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Nonprofit Will Get Funds to Build 'Greener' HomesBy Cassandra Crockett, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am PCBs to Be Removed From Former GE Site: $22.3 Million Cleanup of Luzerne Road Dump in Queensbury is Under WayBy Brian Nearing, Albany Times Union, N.Y. Jul. 4--QUEENSBURY -- Some 20 years after the state declared it a toxic dump, a PCB-polluted former salvage yard for General Electric Co. is being cleaned up.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Buddhists Kick Off Prayer Event: Temple Members Will Maintain Vigil for Three Days and Celebrate the Dalai Lama's BirthdayBy Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Shore Patrol: Containers May Offer an OutletBy Joe Segura, Press-Telegram, Long Beach, Calif. Jul. 4--If you haven't seen Ryan Smolar making the rounds at Long Beach City Hall or the Arts Village, it's most likely you don't frequent those spots.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Tycoon Trump Accused of Getting 'Carried Away By His Golf Dream'By Frank Urquhart A LEADING planning consultant, speaking for environmental groups opposing Donald Trump's GBP 1 billion golf resort plan, yesterday launched an astonishing personal attack on the American property tycoon.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Suspicious Fire Destroys Newspaper Building: Two Arrested, Charged With Arson in DeKalb County BlazeBy Ray Scherer, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo. Jul. 4--MAYSVILLE, Mo. -- Terry Pearl didn't let a devastating fire change his plans to publish a weekly newspaper Thursday. Mr.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am IBM Settles Patent Dispute With Platform Solutions BuyIBM has acquired mainframe clone manufacturer Platform Solutions for an undisclosed sum. As a result of the acquisition both the companies have dropped their respective patent-infringement allegations and claims.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Guy Evers Fought Fire, Boxers and City Hall: The 67-Year-Old, Who Lived, Worked and Volunteered in the South Minneapolis Neighborhood Where He Grew Up, Once Helped Save a Drowning Boy From Lake Hiawatha.By Ben Cohen, Star Tribune, Minneapolis Jul. 3--The orbit of retired firefighter Guy Evers' life often passed through old Fire Station 13 in south Minneapolis. Evers, a Golden Gloves boxer. entered the ring in the basement of the station.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Falun Gong is Ready As Mainlanders Go to Taiwan With Direct Flights, Sect Sees 2nd ChanceBy Jonathan Adams Outside a popular tourist site in Taipei on a baking-hot morning recently, Gao Mingzhu, 56, a visitor from Beijing, took a break in the shade and posed as his tour group companion took a picture.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Web Site Encourages Hispanic Women to Get HIV TestBy Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Jul. 4--Hispanic women are about five times more likely to get HIV than white women. That statistic alone was enough to spur Tucson's Luz Southside Coalition into action.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am The Shuffle: I Got SOME MTVBy Blake Hannon, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo. Jul. 4--I've already ranted about my MTV frustration on my News-Press blog, so the 13 people who read it (my dad and whoever he forwarded it to. He's so proud.) may be wondering why I am continuing this issue further.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Intern Uses Internet to Spread Word About IrwinBy Leann Junker, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa. Jul. 4--Facebook, MySpace and YouTube may be great sites for social networking, but they're also good places for businesses to connect with new customers.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am The Charlotte Observer, N.C., Tommy Tomlinson Column: Gov. Easley, Even in Europe a $60 Burger is Hard to FindBy Tommy Tomlinson, The Charlotte Observer, N.C. Jul. 4--Gov. Easley, I tried. I combed restaurant Web sites all over Europe, looking for that $60 combo platter you mentioned in your press conference the other day.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Message Inspires QuartetBy Dana Wilson, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio Jul. 4--When the New Presence Gospel Quartet gathers for rehearsal every Thursday night, the members don't sleepwalk through the songs they've practiced countless times before. They feel them.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am BRIEF: 16-Year-Old Boy Pleads Not Guilty in Connection With May Rifle KillingBy The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash. Jul. 4--A 16-year-old boy pleaded not guilty Thursday in connection with a May homicide in Tacoma. Superior Court Judge James Orlando ordered to have Hokeshina Lee Tolbert jailed in lieu of $750,000 bail.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am BRIEF: E-Mail Scam Claims to Be From Texas Attorney GeneralBy David Ellison, Houston Chronicle Jul. 4--Another apparent e-mail scam has gotten the attention of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. That's because it claims to be from him.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Review: SOHO Organizer 7.0.2 (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - For personal organization, Apple has focused on the basics with its Address Book and iCal programs, which are included with Mac OS X. These are fine light-duty programs, but they lack power for anything more than simple contact and calendar management. Chronos's SOHO Organizer 7.0.2 suite provides a feature-rich alternative that will appeal to business and power users for whom Apple's offerings are insufficiently powerful or versatile.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Teen Arrested for 'Cruelty to Child' Charge - ABC News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 4 Jul 2008 | 10:30 am TV Asahi wants to ally with IT firm this yearTOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese private broadcaster TV Asahi Corp aims to ally with an information technology and telecoms firm by the end of the year and is open to a capital tie-up, its...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 10:09 am Review of KOffice 2.0 Alpha 8 – On Windows4WebChimps writes "As featured previously on Slashdot, the KOffice project is working towards a cross-platform, open source office suite for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. The most recent release, KOffice 2.0 Alpha 8, achieved that goal by being the first release for all three operating systems simultaneously. Want to try KOffice on Windows? TechWorld has a review (with screenshots) of KOffice on Windows, including the installation process which is as simple as clicking a few buttons (the online installer does the rest). Hopefully it won't be long before KOffice sits alongside OpenOffice.org as a usable cross-platform open source productivity suite."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 4 Jul 2008 | 9:28 am Celebrity Squares: soprano Natasha Marsh can't live without her MacBookWhat's your favourite piece of technology? That would definitely be my MacBook, because it's changed my life. I was a PC user before, but now I couldn't live without a Mac. How has it improved your life?...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 9:24 am Why Microsoft will win Yahoo - CNNMoney.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 4 Jul 2008 | 9:21 am Syria returns stolen marble artifact to IraqSyria has returned a marble artifact to Iraq that was stolen from one of the country's archaeological sites. The marble block roughly 4 feet tall and 1 1/2 feet wide contains an...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 8:48 am Is The Golden Age of Metaverse Podcasting Over?Second Life podcaster Radar Murasaki has a thoughtful post reflecting on what many see as the heyday of SL podcasting, when MTV icon and podcasting innovator Adam Curry erected a castle in Second Life,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 8:29 am Google ordered to give YouTube user data to Viacom (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Jul 2008 | 8:26 am Happy Birthday America tribute to parachutists after WW2 Originally uploaded by miss b*. Being in Paris today, I thought this was a fitting picture. It reminds me (and hopefully all of...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:45 am USB Webkey May Replace Flash Drives As Corporate SwagBy Luke Anderson If you’ve ever been to any kind of trade show in the last few years, you’ve no doubt gotten a USB flash drive from one of the vendors. They hand them out like candy these days...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:44 am 8-Bit Watch Is The Perfect Geeky AccessoryBy Luke Anderson I rarely find myself wearing a watch these days. This is mostly because I have at least two other devices on my person that can tell me the time. I’ve considered buying a new watch,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:43 am Go Anywhere Backpack Folds Up Into A Tiny BallBy Luke Anderson I have three different backpacks sitting in my closet. One is especially for trade shows (it has special compartments for my laptop, cameras and lenses), one I use for hiking, and another...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:41 am Perfect World Announces Shareholder Resolutions Adopted at 2008 Annual General MeetingBEIJING, July 4 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Perfect World Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: PWRD) ("Perfect World" or the "Company"), a leading online game developer and ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:34 am OpenMoko In Stores On July 4ruphus13 writes "July 4 will be day when OpenMoko's Neo FreeRunner will be available to US consumers. Being Open Source, it is modifiable down to the core. From the article: 'The FreeRunner is based on a GNU/Linux, and it will initially ship with basic software to make calls, send and receive SMS, and manage contacts. But the company is encouraging users to write and install their own applications. Software updates will add features to the phone over time, and the company said an August update will enable location-based services.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:10 am Delta adds music playlist to get passengers in right frame of mindSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Gasoline seller MyGallons.com gets 'F' from Better Business BureauSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am 'In Their Boots'Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Ruling against YouTube worries privacy advocatesSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am No More AT&T Callvantage?AT&T, long before it merged with SBC had made a half-hearted attempt at getting into consumer VoIP by selling a service called, CallVantage. It was surprisingly good, especially its call quality...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 6:13 am Xeni kicks the tech tires on Virgin America.(Update: By total coincidental timing, the VA executive featured in this episode, Charles Ogilvie, announced today he's moving on from VA to do something that sounds equally cool with tech and entertainment. Details at the bottom of the post.) [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. ) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Update, 07-03-08: BBtv learned today that Charles Ogilvie is moving on from Virgin America. We're bummed we won't be working with him there anymore! The timing of this episode and his move are totally coincidental, we weren't aware. Here's the note from VA CEO David Cush, after the jump, and congrats on your next adventures, Charles! It is with mixed emotions that I announce that Charles Ogilvie is leaving his position as Director of In-flight Entertainment and Partnerships at Virgin America. Charles will be pursuing a unique opportunity-- to lead Panasonic’s in-flight entertainment and new airborne technology platforms in China. Charles will be based in Shanghai and will report directly to their CEO. Source: Boing Boing | 4 Jul 2008 | 5:48 am Xeni kicks the tech tires on Virgin America.(Update: By total coincidental timing, the VA executive featured in this episode, Charles Ogilvie, announced today he's moving on from VA to do something that sounds equally cool with tech and entertainment...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 5:48 am YouTube user data must be turned over to court, judge rulesA federal judge this week ordered Google to provide Viacom with records of which users watched which videos on YouTube. The ruling raises fears that the video viewing histories of tens of millions of people...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 5:34 am YouTube user data must be turned over to Viacom, judge rulesA federal judge this week ordered Google to provide Viacom with records of which users watched which videos on YouTube. The ruling raises fears that the video viewing histories of tens of millions of people could be exposed. The sheer amount of data we're talking about here is massive -- for each and every YouTube video ever watched since YouTube launched in 2005, Google now has to to turn over to Viacom the login name of every user who had watched every video, and their the IP addresses.Snip from NYT story by Miguel Helft: Google and Viacom said they were hoping to come up with a way to protect the anonymity of the site’s visitors. Viacom also said that the information would be safeguarded by a protective order restricting access to the data to outside lawyers, who will use it solely to press Viacom’s $1 billion copyright suit against Google.Google Told to Turn Over User Data of YouTube [New York Times] Source: Boing Boing | 4 Jul 2008 | 5:34 am YouTube user data must be turned over to Viacom, judge rulesA federal judge this week ordered Google to provide Viacom with records of which users watched which videos on YouTube. The ruling raises fears that the video viewing histories of tens of millions of people...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 5:34 am Huge Lenses To Observe Dark EnergyIddo Genuth writes "UK astronomers, as a part of the Dark Energy Survey collaboration, have reached a milestone in the construction of one of the largest ever cameras to detect dark energy by completing the shipment of the glass required for the five special lenses. Each step in the process of completing this sophisticated camera brings scientists closer to detecting the invisible matter that cosmologists estimate makes up around 75% of our universe."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:50 am Wrist-Top Racer Switches From Trainer to Watch With EaseThe Forerunner 405 is a data-driven action hero that tracks speed, distance and heart rate with GPS-enabled accuracy and lab-worthy cardio analysis.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Transformer: Kayak Adjusts Its Shape to Go With Your FlowYou can prep this flexible kayak for almost any weather or sea condition with hydraulic jacks that stretch and adjust the skin with ease. It's pricey, but wow -- it's like several kayaks in one.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Sex Drive: How to Keep the Fireworks Going From AfarMany long-distance lovers have become experts in how tech can augment sexuality. No commuter couple should go without Skype, Twitter and mobile phones, while sex toys can take the repetitive stress injury out of a long-distance affair. But it's not much of a stretch to think that there's a bigger need (read: market) for "tele-amore" devices than there ever will be for teledildonics (online sex toys controlled by a lover from anywhere in the world). And yet we don't have a lot of options when we're looking for devices designed to arouse our emotions. Not everyone is comfortable enough with both sex and computers to get internet-enabled vibrators working, but we all want to interact with our partners in special ways. Despite the frenzy around social media applications, we still don't have sensual devices that extend that functionality beyond virtual space. All it would take is something like the Ambient Orb hooked up to a desktop dot to get my heart racing. Joseph Kaye, a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University studying human-computer interaction, developed the Virtual Intimate Object, or VIO, to study the effect of low-bandwidth applications on long-distance intimacy. The VIO is a dot that sits in your system tray (Windows) or desktop (Mac) and monitors an identical dot on your partner's computer. When your partner clicks his or her dot, yours fills with color; as time goes by without a click, the color slowly fades until the circle is just an outline. In Kaye's 2004 study (.pdf), five long-distance couples kept journals of how often they clicked the VIO and how using it made them feel. He notes that while he originally thought of the VIO as the source of intimacy, he realized that the journals quickly became an integral part of the experience for the couples. Just as dancing leads to necking which leads to spanking and then to the oral sex, what was enough on day one was merely adequate by day five of the study. By week's end, participants had several suggestions for additional functionality: a choice of colors, the option to play a sound, and the ability to replace the circle with their own set of graphics. They had become emotionally engaged not just with their partners, but with the application. If you can get all that from a 2-D dot, think what you could do with an object you can touch. Unfortunately, the closest thing I can find to that type of technology for consumers is the Nabaztag rabbit, a wireless device that connects with other Nabaztag rabbits over the internet. From a strictly romantic standpoint, they one-up the Chumby and the Tux Droid in that the rabbits can "marry" each other, so that when one partner moves their rabbit's ears, the paired rabbit's ears move the same way. Chat acronyms, make way for the semaphore signs of love. The Nabaztags are excruciatingly cute. I've wanted a set for years, but they weren't specifically designed for suitors. (Nor are they the seamless technical experience they claim to be, apparently: The Nabaztalk user forums provide a sobering counterpoint to the Nabaztags' slick product marketing.) The human-computer interaction folks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology seem to understand the connection between technology and emotion, but their clever projects -- like the Lover's Cups that light up when a far-away partner takes a sip or the Mutsugoto interactive art bed -- have yet to break free of academia and museums. Gadgets like teledildonics and sex machines that stimulate the body but shouldn't be used at work or in public only go so far. Sex tech doesn't have to be explicit to be effective: If you and your distant partner have been together long enough, you realize that tech that fosters intimacy, playfulness and common experiences has a much greater impact on the quality of your union than just having orgasms now and then. I want to glance at the shelf and see an object glowing warmly because someone special sent me a message. I want to let someone know I'm thinking about him, simply by stroking my fingers over a smooth surface. I know I'm not the only one who wants to interact through something sensual and swoopy and erotic that has no connection to business, chores or taxes. I want my ambient intimacy object. Are you listening, developers? There's a mountain of money to be made keeping long-distance lovers connected in our increasingly complicated world. See you in a fortnight, Regina Lynn - - - Regina Lynn is the author of Sexier Sex: Lessons From the Brave New Sexual Frontier. She blogs at reginalynn.com.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Wrist-Top Racer Switches From Trainer to Watch With EaseThe Forerunner 405 is a data-driven action hero that tracks speed, distance and heart rate with GPS-enabled accuracy and lab-worthy cardio analysis.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am From Foldup Kayaks to Swim Goggles, Wired Reviews the Hottest Summer GearOur blowout Summer Test gadget reviews have something for everyone from lightweight tents, folding bikes and GPS navigators to tricked-out training watches and pro-quality swim goggles.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Titanium Frame Handles Any Cycling TerrainThe lightweight Psychlo-X is a road racer and mountain bike in one. Our riders take this and three more cyclo-cross bikes through a gauntlet of pavement, dirt and grass.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am July 4, 1776: To Preserve, Protect and Defend ...1776: The Declaration of Independence is signed. It will take 117 years before someone gets around to saying, "Hey, maybe we should preserve this thing." The Declaration of Independence can be fairly said to stand alongside the Magna Carta and Bill of Rights as the most important documents in the history of democracy. Its significance was understood from the moment it was signed, so one is left to wonder why its preservation was ignored for so long. During the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence was rolled up and toted around like a Thomas Bros. map, although, given the vicissitudes of war, that's perhaps understandable. Less understandable is what came later. Water was spilled on it while it was being copied in 1823. Then it was tacked up on the wall at the U.S. Patent Office for about 40 years, where it was subjected to a strong northern light. Finally, the suggestion was made in 1903 that maybe it shouldn't be exposed to sunlight and, oh, by the way, maybe it should be kept dry, too. The latter turned out to be a bad idea because the Declaration, which was written on parchment, actually needs a bit of moisture to keep from cracking. It wasn't until 1951 that the first modern preservation efforts began. The document was sealed inside a bronze, bullet-proof glass case at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. Humidified helium replaced oxygen to prevent further erosion, and the glass was filtered to cut down on light exposure. Beginning in 1987, using camera equipment developed for the Hubble Space Telescope, preservationists were able to monitor the Declaration for even the most minute signs of fading or flaking ink. The measures proved effective, so much so that the Declaration outlived its original protective case. After undergoing careful inspection for further erosion in 2003, the document was resealed in a titanium casement filled with inert argon gas. Similar preservation techniques are used to protect the Bill of Rights and Constitution. The Declaration of Independence remains on display in the rotunda of the National Archives, where it is seen by roughly 6,000 tourists every day. At night, when the crowds have all gone home, the case is lowered 22 feet into a vault. That's almost as much protection as the French give to Napoleon. Source: History.com
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am From Foldup Kayaks to Swim Goggles, Wired Reviews the Hottest Summer GearOur blowout Summer Test gadget reviews have something for everyone from lightweight tents, folding bikes and GPS navigators to tricked-out training watches and pro-quality swim goggles.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Transformer: Kayak Adjusts Its Shape to Go With Your FlowYou can prep this flexible kayak for almost any weather or sea condition with hydraulic jacks that stretch and adjust the skin with ease. It's pricey, but wow -- it's like several kayaks in one.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Titanium Frame Handles Any Cycling TerrainThe lightweight Psychlo-X is a road racer and mountain bike in one. Our riders take this and three more cyclo-cross bikes through a gauntlet of pavement, dirt and grass.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 4 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Katamari Damacy TherapyA deeper look inside the personal psychodynamics of everyone's favorite giant-ball-of-stuff-roller-upper. "Katamari Damacy Therapy," by Glitch in the System. [Comedy.com, thanks Ben Fritz] Source: Boing Boing | 4 Jul 2008 | 3:33 am Naval Academy Expands Yard Card ProgramRevolutionary program now includes online aspect and additional locations ANNAPOLIS, Md., July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The dynamic stored-value card program launched at theSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 3:24 am Asustek to Offer Eee PC With Built-in 3G Wireless (PC World)PC World - Asustek will offer an Eee PC later this year with built-in 3G connectivity.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 4 Jul 2008 | 2:40 am EBay Abandons Plans For PayPal MonopolyAn anonymous reader writes "eBay's has lost its fight to ban all payment methods except PayPal. When Paypal originally announced the scheme it was to be global, but they began with a dry run in Australia to test the reaction of government and consumer authorities. In the public slanging match that followed between eBay and the regulatory ACCC, eBay spammed users claiming it was fighting for 'safety benefits for consumers.' Fortunately the consumers won. Conceded eBay vice president Simon Smith, 'While we disagree with the ACCC's draft notice, we have decided to withdraw the notification to stop any further confusion and disruption among the eBay community.' Nevertheless eBay insists PayPal is now always offered as a payment option. Have big corporations finally learned that they can go too far? More chillingly, if eBay had launched the scheme in America would they have got away with it?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 4 Jul 2008 | 2:24 am Shanda Announces Establishment of Shanda Literature LimitedSHANGHAI, China, July 3 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited (Nasdaq: SNDA), or Shanda, a leading interactive entertainment media company in...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 2:00 am Lextech Launches iPhone Focused Sister CompanyLISLE, Ill., July 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago area systems engineering company Lextech Global Services (Lextech) announces the launch of its new product-based sister...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 1:34 am The Revolutionary iHam
From the PR/Marketing firm Shackleton in Spain, a super funny riff on Apple products (which has been circulating in the Spanish blogosphere for months). The introductory video will make you burp bacon, it's so funny. Lulz deconstruction, for non-Spanish readers: the "j" would sound like "h" in Spanish if you said the word "iJam." Anyway, somehow the guy's Castellano accent makes it even funnier, because the "th" sounds are all so fancy to my mexican-spanish-trained ear. Below: More recently, some guys tried to return their iHam at the Apple store, and were rebuffed. Wikreate's response to Shackleton's iJam.
[Thanks, Ari Kuschnir] Source: Boing Boing | 4 Jul 2008 | 1:02 am Einstein's Theory Passes Strict New TestFiReaNGeL writes with an excerpt from a story at e! Science News: "Taking advantage of a unique cosmic configuration, astronomers have measured an effect predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity in the extremely strong gravity of a pair of superdense neutron stars. Essentially, the famed physicist's 93-year-old theory passed yet another test. Scientists at McGill University used the National Science Foundation's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to do a four-year study of a double-star system unlike any other known in the Universe. The system is a pair of neutron stars, both of which are seen as pulsars that emit lighthouse-like beams of radio waves."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 4 Jul 2008 | 12:59 am Transgender "man" reportedly gives birthLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but after surgery and hormone treatment lives as a man, has given birth to a girl at an Oregon hospital, People magazine reportedSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Jul 2008 | 12:15 am 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 simulation 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 | 4 Jul 2008 | 12:01 am Google told to hand over YouTube users' dataGoogle has run into a fresh storm over online privacy after a US judge ordered YouTube, its popular online video site, to hand over records detailing the viewing habits of its millions of users.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:54 pm What Is the Best Way To Disinfect Your Laptop?akutz writes "I've had the flu since Tuesday afternoon. My wife picked me up from work with a temperature of 103.6 and it finally broke at 98.7 around 3am this morning. Yay. The problem is that I used my laptop during my periods of feverish deliriousness, contaminating my shiny 15" MacBook Pro with the icky influenza virus. I am asking my fellow Slashdotters if they have ever sought out a good way of disinfecting their lucky laptops after an illness. Do you use soap? A light acid bath? Just get the family dog to lick it until it looks clean?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:53 pm Found: George Washington's houseArchaeologists report that the remains of an old farmhouse they've spent three years digging up is the childhood home of George Washington. What a deeeelightful pre-July 4 announcement. The excavation, on the Rappahannock River, was the last of three likely sites where the home could have been. The researchers spent the last few years carefully digging out foundation stones, chimneys, wine bottles, forks, wig curlers, a tea set, and even bone toothbrush handles. (No, George's teeth apparently weren't wood even as an adult.) The image seen here shows the home's footprint. From the New York Times:George Washington's house (New York Times, thanks Jennifer Lum!) Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:10 pm Letter: Online offers that are too good to be trueLVMH's successful case against eBay (eBay hit with £30m fine for sales of fake luxuries, July 1) once again highlights the lack of protection that exists for consumers using online auction sites...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:06 pm Lenovo Seeks Prestige in Price-sensitive Market (PC World)PC World - The perception of Lenovo as a laptop innovator has paid dividends in the enterprise space, but the reputation may not...Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 11:00 pm An App to Boil Down Online User ReviewsAn anonymous reader writes "Is this a glimpse at the future of the Semantic Web? A new startup named Pluribo has developed a technology that can auto-summarize user reviews on the internet. It is a Firefox extension that can take a webpage filled with reviews and condense it down into a couple of sentences. Currently, it just works with Amazon electronics, but the potential seems incredible. Ars Technica took an in-depth look."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:52 pm US Justice Dept. sued for info on cellular tracking practices - BetaNews
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:36 pm Weekend project: Sync your .Mac bookmarks one last time - CNET News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:31 pm 12,000 Laptops Lost Weekly At Airportskthejoker writes "Apparently companies are even worse about losing our data than we suspected. From the article: 'According to a study of 106 major US airports and 800 business travelers published by the Ponemon Institute and Dell Computer, about 12,000 laptops are lost in airports each week. Only 30 percent of travelers ever recover the lost devices. Nearly half of the travelers say their laptops contain customer data or confidential business information.' Kinda scary..."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:02 pm U.S. Arms Dealer Tests Legal Bounds in Middle East Arms BazaarFormer congressman Curt Weldon is helping broker deals between Russian and Ukranian weapons suppliers and the Iraqi and Libyan governments as part of his new job with a private American defense consulting firm, Wired.com has learned. Weldon, who is currently being investigated by the FBI over alleged corruption during his time in office, visited Libya in March to discuss a possible military deal, according to a letter describing the trip from Weldon to Defense Solutions CEO Timothy Ringgold. In May, Weldon, together with Ringgold and another company representative, traveled to Moscow to discuss working with Russia's weapons-export agency on arms sales to the Middle East. Both trips were part of the company's effort to tap into the growing -- and often legally murky -- market for selling weapons from former Eastern Bloc countries to the Middle East and Afghanistan. 
Ex-Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Penn., is helping broker deals between Russian weapons suppliers and the Iraqi and Libyan governments through his company, Defense Solutions.
Photo: H. Rumph Jr/AP The Russians want to sell weapons to Iraq directly, but "must go slow on Iraq because of political reasons" and want to work with an "intermediary" like Defense Solutions, CEO Ringgold subsequently wrote to colleagues. "They have not spoken with any American company that can offer the quid pro quo that we can or that has the connections in Russia that we have," he boasted. A few years ago, an American company proposing to sell weapons to Libya might have triggered a congressional hearing. So, too, would have a proposal to conduct arms deals with Russia, which the United States has accused of selling high-tech weapons to Syria and Iran. However, U.S. government efforts to rapidly equip countries like Afghanistan and Iraq -- which have largely Soviet-origin weapons -- have created legal ambiguities and loopholes in export controls that didn't exist in years past and given rise to a new class of arms trade middlemen. So, even though both Libya and the Russian arms export agency are on official U.S. blacklists, government officials and analysts involved in weapons sales say the rules have become unclear as the push to equip allies in the global war on terror has blazed new but uncertain legal ground. Eagerly stepping into that virgin territory is Defense Solutions, a Pennsylvania-based company that is carving out a small but lucrative niche in a new international arms bazaar. The firm boasts as its advisors a number of influential Washington insiders, such as retired General Barry McCaffrey, the former White House drug czar. Helping the firm make key connections is Curt Weldon, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania at the center of an FBI investigation into alleged conflicts of interest during his time in office. Weldon, now a key executive at Defense Solutions, is working with the company to set up these weapons deals. 
Defense Solutions has also proposed refurbishing Libya's BTR-60 armored personnel carriers, according to a sales proposal seen by Wired.com. Defense Solutions denies drafting a sales proposal to Libya.
It's an unusual, if not an entirely unexpected chapter for Weldon, whose time in office included frequent trips to Russia. As an influential member of the House Armed Services Committee, Weldon pushed for multibillion-dollar defense programs, like ballistic missile defense, and earned a reputation as a foreign policy gadfly, boasting of his contacts with officials in nations labeled by the administration as "rogue states" such as Libya and North Korea. Weldon's wild claims about a 9/11 cover-up and his sensationalist book warning of an Iranian terror plot, sometimes earned him official scorn and public ridicule, but it was accusations that he steered contracts to Eastern European businesses linked to his daughter's lobbying firm that drew the government's attention. Weldon was voted out of office in 2006 just weeks after the FBI raided his daughter's home, and that of one of her associates. Weldon did not respond to e-mails and phone requests to be interviewed or comment for this article. But in a 2006 interview, before the FBI probe was public, Weldon spoke enthusiastically about setting up a "front company" to work with the Russian arms agency, Rosoboronexport. Weldon hoped this company could sell weapons to the Middle East, and other regions, particularly to countries where the U.S. has strained relations. He claimed the director of Rosoboronexport approached him to work with "an American company that would act as a front for weapons these nations want to buy." Weldon called the proposal an "unbelievable offer." The administration, he acknowledged at the time, did not welcome the idea of an American company selling Russian weapons to potentially unfriendly countries. But two years later, Weldon, now a private citizen and chief strategic officer for Defense Solutions, appears to be working on precisely that sort of deal. And whether illegal or not, Defense Solutions' business represents a new phenomenon in the international arms trade business. In years past arms brokers -- firms or individuals who serve as middlemen to facilitate weapons sales between countries -- were largely the stuff of spy thrillers. Unlike traditional American defense companies, like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, which typically sell weapons directly to NATO countries or other governments regarded as friendly to the United States, brokers are often small outfits run by people with sometimes questionable experience and reputations they will sell to anyone. One of the most infamous arms brokers, a Russian named Viktor Bout, is charged by the United States, United Nations, Interpol and others of funneling arms to terrorists and rebels around the world. He was recently arrested in Thailand. The United States is requesting his extradition on charges of supplying arms to a terrorist organization. 
Two Marines lower the trim vane on the front of an Iraqi BMP-1 mechanized infantry combat vehicle that was captured during Operation Desert Storm. The American defense consulting firm Defense Solutions has proposed refurbishing Libya's aging fleet of BMP-1s. Defense Solutions denies drafting a sales proposal to Libya.
But ironically, Iraq has fueled a new market for these professional middlemen; the United States is funneling billions of dollars into modernizing Iraq's army so that the country's government can fend for itself after coalition troops withdraw. And Iraq's largely Soviet-equipped military is a natural market for Eastern European countries brimming with old or out-of-date equipment they would like to unload. The middlemen, in these cases, serve a key role by allowing the U.S. government to do business with an American company, which in turn buys equipment from Eastern Bloc countries in deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars, much of it financed with U.S. taxpayer dollars. One of Defense Solutions' sales -- a deal to sell Hungarian-owed T-72 tanks to Iraq in 2005 -- was typical of these new foreign military sales. But on the more questionable side is the company's plans to work with Rosoboronexport, which is barred from doing business with the U.S. government, and Libya, which is still on the State Department's arms embargo list. The Eastern European-Middle East arms-brokering business, while in some cases sanctioned by the U.S. government, has run into problems, including outright corruption and quality. Defense contractor Dale Stoffel, the president of Wye Oak Technology, and another American were gunned down in Iraq in December 2004 after Stoffel alleged that the Iraqi Ministry of Defense was involved in a kickback scheme. Like Defense Solutions, the company Stoffel worked for was refurbishing the Iraq's army Eastern Bloc equipment. Another problem is quality. Weapons from the former Soviet Bloc, which the U.S. military euphemistically calls "nonstandard equipment," have been flagged as substandard, acknowledges Brigadier General Charles Luckey, who is in charge of security assistance at Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq. In an interview from Iraq, Brigadier General Luckey said: "One of the frustrating things about buying nonstandard [weapons], is that I'm the guy who has to deal with the fact that some broker I've never heard of allowed weapons to get to Iraq before they were inspected." 
Defense Solutions is carving a new niche in the arms trade, selling Soviet-made weapons to Middle Eastern countries like Afghanistan and Iraq. Defense Solutions sold Hungarian-owed T-72 tanks to Iraq in 2005.
In one high-profile case, Iraqi officials alleged that a corrupt firm sold them $400 million in shoddy helicopters from Poland. More recently, a company led by a 21-year-old and a former masseur was offered a U.S. government contract worth nearly $300 million to sell ammunition to Afghanistan. The ammunition turned out to be outdated and of dubious origin and several people connected with the company have been indicted. A congressional investigation concluded that the company, which was on a State Department watch list, was able to take advantage of regulatory loopholes by using middlemen. For those concerned about illicit arms trade, this new wave of weapons deals is rife with the potential for corruption and abuse, but for companies eager to pursue markets once regarded as dubious, it represents a lucrative business opportunity. The problem in these cases, according to those familiar with arms sales, is that it's no longer clear what's legal and what's not. Rachel Stohl, an expert on international arms trade and a senior analyst at Center for Defense Information, says that in many ways, the rush to equip Iraq has led the United States to throw caution to the wind. She points to a report by the Government Accountability Office last year that found that some 190,000 weapons sold to Iraq have gone missing. "I think the reality is we won't know, until way after the fact, about all of these irregularities with the Iraq weapons provision program," she said. "We were providing them all these assault rifles that have gone missing. Why? They were not following the standard procedures that were in place." But Iraq and Afghanistan aren't the only markets available to arms brokers like Defense Solutions. The gradual normalization of relations with Libya opens another door into a quasi-legal area of sales. Like Iraq, Libya has a substantial arsenal of Soviet-origin military weapons, offering a potential market for brokers working with Russia and other former Soviet states. But even when there's not an outright ban, sales to the Middle East are often fraught with controversy, particularly to countries like Libya, which was under international sanction for more than a decade. Even as sanctions against it have been lifted, European companies proposing to sell arms to Libya have faced steep criticism, particularly since the country is still ruled by dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who took power in a military coup in 1969. While the United States lifted Libya's "state sponsor of terrorism" designation in 2006, other restrictions, such as on the sale of arms, remain in place. A State Department spokesperson confirmed that exports of "lethal munitions" to Libya, such as tanks or related equipment, are still banned, although sales of nonlethal equipment are now allowed on a case-by-case basis. In late March, Weldon traveled to Libya for a weeklong trip at the invitation of the Gaddafi Foundation, a group run by the son of Libya's leader, and the chairman of Libya's foreign affairs committee, according to the report he sent to Defense Solutions (.pdf), a copy of which was obtained by Wired.com. The trip reports states: "Agreement reached for Weldon to quickly return to Libya for meetings with son [of Libyan leader Gaddafi] Morti regarding defense and security cooperation." A document dated April 16, just two weeks after Weldon's trip, outlines Defense Solutions' proposal to Libya to refurbish the country's fleet of armored vehicles, including its T-72 tanks, BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, and BTR-60 armored personnel carriers. A copy of the sales proposal, also provided to Wired.com, is on Defense Solutions' letterhead, appears to bear the signature of company CEO Timothy Ringgold, and is addressed to Libya's defense procurement council. "Defense Solutions is committed to delivering a full end-to-end solution to its clients," the proposal states. "Besides refurbishing these vehicles, we are capable of providing a full logistics support package, including a two year supply of spare parts, maintenance and repair services, and operator, maintenance, and repair training." In an interview with Wired.com, Ringgold admitted that he's interested in doing business in Libya and confirms receiving Weldon's trip report from Libya, but denies drafting or signing an arms-sale proposal. "I've never made such a document to Libya," Ringgold insisted, after being read the proposal, and told that his signature is on it. In addition to the Libyan arms-deal document, Wired.com has also reviewed copies of e-mails from Ringgold discussing the Libyan deal. While Ringgold denies proposing an arms sale to Libya, he is open about speaking with Rosoboronexport, which has been on a U.S. government sanctions list since 2006, after the Russian state agency allegedly violated the Iran and Syria Nonproliferation Act. An April e-mail provided to Wired.com describes Ringgold, Weldon and Stephan Minikes, a senior advisor to Defense Solutions and a former ambassador, meeting with Rosoboronexport. The conversations included a number of potential deals, including supplying Mi-17 helicopters to Afghanistan and spare parts for Iraq's infantry fighting vehicles. Ringgold wrote to colleagues following the visit, describing the meetings as a "spectacular success," saying the Russian agency "has the ability to undercut all cost proposals from brokers." Ringgold confirmed those discussions and said that his company has sought to do business with Rosoboronexport. Asked whether Ringgold considers his dealings with Russia to be legal, he argued that U.S. companies could work with Rosoboronexport on a "case-by-case" basis. "The particular purpose of the meeting we had -- and I want to be crystal clear -- was in response to a U.S. government requirement," he said. A number of officials at the State Department and in the Pentagon, when contacted for this article, could not say whether working with Rosoboronexport is legal or not. A Pentagon spokeswoman said she was familiar with the issue, but deferred the question to the State Department. When asked about Rosoboronexport's status on the blacklist, John Herzberg, a State Department spokesman replied: "What's on there is on there." Asked whether, given the ban, there was any way a company could legally work with Rosoboronexport, as Ringgold suggested, Herzberg provided an equivocal answer. "At the stage of the process we're at, I'm unable to give you an answer," he said. "You can try elsewhere in government, and maybe they'll be braver than me." In an interview from Iraq, General Luckey conceded it was a murky area, but said, "My understanding is they are currently on our no-go list." The confusion over debarred parties has even led the U.S. government into its own legal tangles, according to Jim McAleese, a Washington attorney who specializes in government contracting and foreign military sales. Because the Russian government violated U.S. nonproliferation laws, even NASA had to go to Congress to ensure it could work with Russia on Soyuz flights to the international space station. "What I'm warning you about is, don't be surprised by the confusion," McAleese said. "There are a whole bunch of different statutes that were adopted piecemeal and were never intended to be reconciled." But it's the very ambiguity of the law that troubles those who monitor export control. "It's highly unusual to do anything with the Russians, particularly Rosoboronexport," said Scott Jones, director of Export Control Programs at the Center for International Trade and Security at the University of Georgia. Legal or not, reputable American companies simply don't want to work with banned entities, Jones said, for fear of risking their reputations and business. "Even if it's not an outright prohibition, most companies don't want to put themselves in a liability situation that has really bad PR … and they stay away from it," Jones said. "But if that's your business, pimping out arms from the U.S. or Russia, that's the way it works, and you push as much as possible." Finding any U.S. defense company working with the Russian government at this point would be "remarkable," Jones added. In the meantime, the future for Weldon is unclear. The FBI investigation continues and Weldon's former chief of staff recently pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and is cooperating with the government, notes Melanie Sloan, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed a complaint against Weldon in 2004. Sloan speculated that Weldon may be charged with "honest service fraud" for misusing his office for personal gain. "It's an easier standard than bribery," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised [if he's charged] with bribery, but I think it will be honest services fraud." Ringgold insists that he and Weldon are on the right side of the law. "Everything we do is in strict compliance with international and U.S. law and we operate only in the best interests of the U.S. government," he said. "I didn't serve 30 years in the United States Army to throw that away on a whim." Asked if Weldon is still working for the company, Ringgold replied: "Absolutely, proudly so."
Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Jul 2008 | 10:00 pm Chipmaker Connects A Wireless World And Makes It Run Faster (Investor's Business Daily)Investor's Business Daily - Now televisions, digital cameras and game consoles commonly link to the world without those physical ties.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:24 pm Video: cross-species love (not what you think)
BB community member Takeshi brought this lovely video to our attention. And for that, I am eternally grateful.Animal Friendship Between Different Species (YouTube) Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:16 pm Dave Hill, inventor of the world's greatest two-man percussive dance theatre troupeInternet funnyman Dave Hill tells Boing Boing: Recently my friends David Rakoff, Martha Plimpton, Chris Schneider, Miles Kahn, and I made this video chronicling mine and David's attempts at forming the world's greatest two-man percussive dance theatre troupe, like, ever. Please watch it now and then make everyone you know watch it and then have those people make everyone they know watch it, sort of like that shampoo commercial or something. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this video so much. It pretty much has everything. You can totally watch it right here. Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:13 pm Star Trek Trike More on this incredible Starship Enterprise tricycle can be found in a BB Gadgets post by the incomparable John Brownlee. Star Trek Trike Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:04 pm Stage a Fireworks Show SafelyLighter in one hand and crazy look in another? It must be July 4th and it is time to honor our forefathers and delight your neighbors by blowing stuff up with fireworks. Our fireworks tips will ensure your fireworks show is the best and safest one yet.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:00 pm 'Containers' Out Perform Virtualization For KV Pharmaceuticals (TechWeb)TechWeb - InformationWeek - With a container approach from Parallels' Virtuozzo, memory consumption and processor overhead are reduced through the use of one operating system per host.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 9:00 pm Internet addressing agency loses its own addresses (AP)AP - This doesn't sound good: The nonprofit agency in charge of the Internet's addresses recently lost track of its own.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:57 pm Daily Debrief: Celebrating America's independence, questioning our own online (CNET)CNET - A day before the United States celebrates its independence, we continue to question our individual freedoms online. In Thursday's Daily Debrief, CNET News.com Editor in Chief Dan Farber and I discuss a federal judge's recent ruling in the ongoing Google-Viacom lawsuit that orders Google to turn over YouTube user activity. This will include videos watched, IP addresses, and usernames as part of an ongoing copyright infringement case.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:44 pm Hot rod pedal car Steven Vandervate and Deron Wright modded a 1960s kids pedal car into this killer hot rod ride for Wright's son. From Vandervate's Kischkrieg blog: The body is a standard 60s vintage pedal car with an incredible candy tangerine job by Nick "O" Teen, the blower is sculpted and cast in resin by Lou Z, while Deron handled the design, machining, and fabrication of the steering, suspension, and wheels. I was left to design and execute the lettering in variegated gold and One Shot enamel. I'd call the whole thing a success and a definite pleasure to take part in.Hot rod pedal car (Kitschrkieg, thanks COOP!) Source: Boing Boing | 3 Jul 2008 | 8:06 pm VeriSign parts company with CEOVeriSign, the world's leading provider of the electronic certificates that help secure internet traffic, announced the departure of its chief executiveSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:58 pm Adobe to make searching easier on Flash sitesInternet users will now have an easier time finding sites that rely heavily on the popular Flash video format.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:51 pm S&P says KLA-Tencor buyback won't impact ratingsStandard & Poor's Ratings Services said Thursday that its "BBB+" ratings and "Stable" outlook for KLA-Tencor Corp. will not be impacted by the chip manufacturing equipment maker's authorization of...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:34 pm Fireworks: Coming Soon to a Screen Near YouThe great outdoors is overrated. Explosive Fourth of July imagery is coming your way, couch potatoes, thanks to your TV or computer.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:30 pm Openmoko's Neo FreeRunner Smartphone Really Is Open (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - Openmoko has taken the wraps off its Neo FreeRunner, a Linux-based smartphone based on the company's open mobile-computing platform. Before you yawn about reading yet another product-introduction story -- especially about a handset that lacks 3G capability -- what sets the Neo FreeRunner apart is that it really is open, literally and figuratively.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:26 pm Calorie Restriction Comes in a PillA drug based on a compound found in red wine promises all the anti-aging goodness of caloric restriction, but without the starvation, in a new study with mice.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Jul 2008 | 7:00 pm Latest Open Source Linux Phone on Sale July 4The latest attempt at an open source, Linux-based phone goes on sale July 4. Offered by OpenMoko, will it succeed where so many others have failed? We'll find out for sure on the Fourth.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 3 Jul 2008 | 5:33 pm
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A recent graduate of MIT's Comparative Media Studies program, (Alicia) Verlager, who is blind, helped with the development of the game.
“What we see at this site is the best available window into the setting that nurtured the father of our country,” Philip Levy, an archaeologist and associate professor of history at the University of South Florida, said in an announcement of the discovery.
