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Domain Name Squatting - Mass .TV Auctions on GoDaddy.com(TrendHunter.com) There has been some serious domain name squatting - buying a domain name hoping to sell it for profit - and it involves some of the biggest television stations in the U.S. A Florida...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 5:20 pm Frozen Gas Weapons - Wasp Knife Threatens UK(TrendHunter.com) What an utterly awful way to die. Britains Metropolitan Police are fearing the use of the Wasp Knife. The dangerous knife instantly freezes the internal organs of stabbed victims by...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 5:00 pm 100,000 Men on Segways - Security Guards at China Olympics(TrendHunter.com) The upcoming Olympics in China have and will produce a lot of headlines. China has already been noted for their specially-made Bird's nest arena in Beijing, the largest fireworks display...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:40 pm Fake Melted Wax - Candle Drips Made of China (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) These candlesticks recreate the effect of dripping wax with intricate faux wax made out of fine bone china. I am particularly fond of the idea that your real candle drips can add to...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:40 pm Movie Trailer Birth Announcements - Baby Production (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) Parents of new babies now have a cute alternative to plain old birth announcement cards. They can have a personal movie trailer made - their very own baby production. The Movie Trailer...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:00 pm Social Networking Sites Becoming Useful For Lawyerschareverie writes "With how the internet has become, social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace have become a tool for crime solvers, employers, and now, lawyers. Two weeks after Joshua Lipton was charged in a drunk driving case, the college junior attended a Halloween party dressed as a prisoner, with the words 'jail bird' on his costume. Not surprisingly, his prosecutor was able to obtain photos of him at the party that were posted on Facebook, and claimed he was an 'unrepentant partier who lived it up while his victim recovered in the hospital.' The photos were presented in a slideshow, with one of them showing Lipton holding a can of Red Bull in one hand, and an arm draped around a girl bearing sorority letters. The judge agreed with the prosecutor, and changed Lipton's sentence to two years in prison. The article also cites other instances of people getting harsher sentences from pictures of them posted online."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:15 pm Authorities: Scam used name of dead Mich. soldier - Chicago Tribune
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:12 pm Top 10 reviews of the week - CNET News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:04 pm Weekly Wrapup, 14-18 July 2008It's time to review the week that was on ReadWriteWeb. On the product side we continued our ongoing analysis of the iPhone 3G and its accompanying App Store, we looked closely at a Gmail update to its...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:00 pm Guns on SegwaysAnti-terrorist demonstration in Jinan, China. (BigPicture) When the lovable Segway was unveiled, who would have guessed that its chief street use would be a platform for cops and soldiers. Here's...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 12:38 pm The Story Behind San Francisco's Rogue Network Admin - PC World
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Jul 2008 | 12:23 pm VC Deals In Charts (Q2 2008)Exits? We Dont Need No Stinkin Exits?Second quarter data is out on venture deals from the National Venture Capital Association and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Despite the IPO market drying up completely, the What-Me-Worry crowd on Sand Hill...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 12:22 pm Web networking photos come back to bite defendants (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Jul 2008 | 12:22 pm A Look At ACTA Wish Lists For RIAA, BSA, OthersI Don't Believe in Imaginary Property brings us an analysis of several organizations' goals for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which we've discussed previously. In particular, he points out the anti-privacy views of the Business Software Alliance: "While the ACTA itself is not public, the US Trade Representative has at least released the ACTA comments. While many of them are to be expected, such as the RIAA & co. wanting copyright filters, one item on the BSA's wish list really stands out: 'In a number of European countries one of the biggest impediments to efforts by rights holder to enforce their IP rights on the Internet is the overbroad interpretation of privacy laws by some European authorities.' They want ACTA to 'fix' that by neutering the privacy laws. Given the BSA's other questionable activities, it couldn't hurt to tell their member companies what you think of their participation. After all, organizations like the BSA exist in part to shield their members from bad PR." Full documents of comments from the various organizations are available at Public Knowledge.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Jul 2008 | 12:17 pm zCover ships iSAglove 3G cases for iPhone (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - zCover on Friday announced that it is shipping its iSAglove 3G cover for the iPhone. It costs $29.99 and joins zCover's line of iPhone accessories.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:30 am Both waysWatching morning TV in DC…. McCain is trying to smash Obama’s cake and smash it, too. He can’t complain that Obama hasn’t been to Iraq lately and then complain when he goes to Iraq...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:10 am Actually is the new yknowThe most overused and unnecessary word on broadcast is “actually.” Start counting how many times it is used by TV people and you’ll hate me for driving you nuts. While I’m kvetching,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:04 am Floating Poles a Hazard to DriversBy Eric Ferreri, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Jul. 19--DURHAM -- When the rain comes, you may have better luck navigating East Forest Hills Boulevard in a canoe than in your car.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Jump in Jellyfish Gives LIers That Stinging FeelingBy Bill Bleyer, Newsday, Melville, N.Y. Jul. 19--Lifeguards at East Hampton's Peconic Bay beaches have been issued an unusual piece of equipment this summer: spray bottles filled with a mixture of vinegar and salt water.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Women's Boating Class Coming Up This Weekend in Huber HeightsBy JIM MORRIS OUTDOORS A twoday training program exclusively for women interested in boating is scheduled for Saturday, July 19, and Sunday at the Gander Mountain store in Huber Heights.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Union's Discharges Feed CropsBy Doug Page Staff Writer UNION -- John Applegate doesn't want any of Union ending up in the Stillwater River. Toward that end, the Union native and longtime city manager has been paring away at the city's discharges from its sewage treatment plant.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Not so Fast on Westward Sprawl, State Tells DadeBy Matthew I. Pinzur and Michael Vasquez, The Miami Herald Jul.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Grant to Help Pay for ImprovementsBy Nancy Bowman Staff Writer MONROE TWP., Miami County -- County officials hope a grant will help pay for sanitary sewer improvements in the Hilltop Sudivision near the Miami-Montgomery County line.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Land Plan Favors OHV Trails: Conservation Groups Say Wilderness Areas Would Be Neglected Under the BLM Use ProposalBy Patty Henetz, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul. 19--The conflict between motorized travel and quieter recreation isn't likely to subside any time soon in the Kanab region. The U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Online College to Graduate 642By Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul. 19--Dale Nelson once operated a 250-head dairy herd in Enterprise, keeping the milk flowing for 20 years before the dairy business soured on him several years ago.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am CorrectionBy The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C. Jul. 19--Stories on the front page Tuesday and in Friday's Triangle & Co., as well as a photo caption on the front page Wednesday, misspelled the first name of Nancy Cooper's twin sister, Krista Lister.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Sheriff: Man With Drunken-Driving History Used AliasBy Carl Macgowan and Joseph Mallia, Newsday, Melville, N.Y. Jul. 19--The eyes have it. Suffolk officials say a high-tech iris scanning device caught a Brentwood man in a lie Thursday when he used an alias after he was arrested on drunken driving charges.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am BRIEF: Slain Police Officer to Be HonoredBy John Hinton, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C. Jul. 19--The city of Winston-Salem will honor the late Sgt. Howard J. Plouff as the 2007 Officer of the Year during a ceremony at 3 p.m. Thursday at the police memorial in front of the Public Safety Center, 725 N.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Feeding the Masses: Italian Festival Provides Dinner Out on FridayBy Heather Rutz, The Lima News, Ohio Jul.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am The Salt Lake Tribune Robert Kirby Column: Kirby: Why Has My Bishop Spared Me? Good QuestionBy Robert Kirby, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul. 19--The excommunication of Chad Hardy, creator of a calendar featuring Mormon missionaries posing without their shirts, prompted a rush of e-mails from concerned readers wanting to know why.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Rediff.Com to Support Applications Compatible With Facebook Markup Language Launches Developer ProgrammeRediff.com, India's leading online community portal, today announced the launch of its developer program at Proto.in (http://developer.rediff.com), inviting all application developers to come on board and build applications for Rediff.com properties which is being made compatible to support Facebook Markup Language (FBML).Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am The Salt Lake Tribune Reader Advocate Column: Reader Advocate: Blogs Big Hit With Many Trib ReadersBy Connie Coyne, The Salt Lake Tribune Jul. 19--BLOGS -- or Web logs -- are children of the Internet. In general, blogs are a mix of personal opinions and links to material on other Web sites.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Local HeadlinesNCR, Siemens offer self-service kiosk for patient check-ins DAYTON -- NCR Corp. and Siemens Healthcare are offering a self- service check-in mechanism called "NCR MediKiosk" to the Siemens customer base in North America, both companies said Wednesday, July 16.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Samsung Collaborates With Sun Microsystems to Develop New Ultra- Endurance Flash Memory for SSD Products in Server ApplicationsSEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, announced today that it has collaborated with Sun Microsystems to develop a single-level-cell NAND flash memory device for use in solid state drives that offers much higher endurance levels than any other flash memory device on the market today.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Freedom of Information Standards Failed by 38 StatesBOCA RATON, Fla., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Freedom of Information Acts (FOI) allowing public access to government records is described as a "haphazard...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 11:00 am Games preview: iPhone GamesSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 10:45 am Games preview: Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli PS2, PS3 (reviewed), Nintendo DS, Nintendo WiiSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 10:43 am Beautiful refurbed theater seatsKnitSonya did a fantastic job refurbing these old theater seats with fresh upholstery and so on:Link (via Craft) Source: Boing Boing | 19 Jul 2008 | 10:19 am Scholars will reassemble ancient Egyptian boatArchaeologists and scholars will excavate hundreds of fragments of an ancient Egyptian wooden boat entombed in an underground chamber next to Giza's Great pyramid. They will then try to...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 10:15 am Flower power/acid house mashup album Simon sez, "We did a free Summer of Love mashup compilation/album to tribute the first (1968) and the second (1988) Summer of Love revolutions in one. So we mashed Flower Power hits with acid house and rave stuff. As a bonus each artist created a custum vintage VW Bus paper model and we give them away in a handy print ready pdf file. The Summer of Love 2008 is a featured torrent in the Mininova so its ultra fast. There is a wacky alternate download as well, plus straming and track by track download too. Fans can find an empty VW bus sablon in the pdf so they can design their own bus and send it to us, we will post them in a gallery at the WHA!? site." Link (Thanks, Simon!) Source: Boing Boing | 19 Jul 2008 | 10:15 am Ubisoft Steals 'No-CD Crack' To Fix Rainbow 6: Vegas 2Ariastis writes "UbiSoft has long been against No-CD patches. Referring to them on their forums would get you warned or banned. But now, they have just officially released a patch for Rainbow 6: Vegas 2, which, when opened in a hex editor, can easily be identified as coming from the RELOADED scene group, not from UbiSoft programmers. A picture of hex analysis is shown in the story. See? Piracy isn't that bad! It saves you from having to code fixes for your own games! (Watch the drama on the Ubi Forums before it gets scrubbed clean.)"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Jul 2008 | 9:10 am Mom fights music giant - San Jose Mercury News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Jul 2008 | 8:36 am Linear Motor Drive Hybrid Wire-Cut EDMBy Tudor, Emily K Sodick's Hybrid Wire combines linear motor wire-cut EDM technology and high speed waterjet cutting technology. The machine also offers full automatic wire-cut EDM operations.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am Blow Moldable AcetalBy Anonymous A new acetal from BASF Corp., Florham Park, NJ., has high melt strength for extrusion blow molding. Ultraform E3120 BM offers barrier and chemical resistance for cosmetics bottles, solvent and coolant containers, and pressure spray vessels.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am Enhanced MDPE & HDPE For RotomoldingBy Anonymous Four new hexene-copolymer MDPE and HDPE resins for rotomolding come from Chevron Phillips Chemical, The Woodlands, Texas.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Jul 2008 | 8:00 am Motorola sues former executive who is now has key role in Apple's global iPhone salesMotorola accuses its former vice president of disclosing trade secrets to his new employer. Mobile-phone maker...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Two in Orange County ill with West Nile virus; two others infectedA man and woman are hospitalized with the disease, authorities say; one may have been infected while traveling outside the U.S. Blood donations reveal two people with infections but no symptoms. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Bacteria may protect children from developing asthmaThose infected with Helicobacter pylori, a leading cause of ulcers and stomach cancer, were 59% less likely to have the breathing disorder, a study finds. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Weight gain halted by vitamins, study of mice findsA diet supplemented with folic acid, vitamin B-12 and other additives appears to block a gene and prevent successive generations of mice from getting fatter, researchers report. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am What made Pio Pico so feo?California's last Mexican governor had grotesque features that a neurologist thinks were caused by a metabolic disorder known as acromegaly. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Major investor sides with Yahoo boardLegg Mason's Bill Miller takes a stand against Carl Icahn's effort to seat his own slate of directors. Yahoo Inc...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am What made Pio Pico so, well, ugly?California's last Mexican governor had grotesque features that a neurologist thinks were caused by a metabolic disorder known as acromegaly. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Purdue physicist found guilty of misconductResearcher Rusi P. Taleyarkhan, who says he produced tabletop fusion, falsely claimed that his findings had been independently replicated, a university panel finds. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 7:00 am Japan firms to work out next-gen car battery normsTOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp , Nissan Motor Co , Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and other Japanese companies will work together to set up common standards for lithium-ion...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 6:08 am UK Mobile Operator O2 Leaks MMS PhotosAnonymous Hero writes "UK Mobile Operator O2 allows its customers to send Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) photos to email recipients by way of a web interface. The URLs published by the MMS-to-email application are not authenticated, so a simple Google search reveals hundreds, if not thousands of private photos." Reader ttul points out similar coverage of this issue at InformationWeek.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Jul 2008 | 6:05 am Panel Finds Misconduct By Fusion Researcher - Washington Post
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Jul 2008 | 5:47 am Toyota to make 100,000 units of hybrid car: paperTOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp plans to produce 100,000 units a year of a new hybrid-only model slated for release in 2009 at a subsidiary in southern Japan, the Nikkei business dailySource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 5:05 am Nude, crazed airplane passengerToday, a gentleman on an American Airlines from Boston to Los Angeles stripped naked, got dressed again, and then attempted to open the emergency exit door. He was then "subdued" by theNew England Revolution soccer team who were also on board. From The Boston Channel:He was asked to go back to the bathroom to put his clothes on and he did and went back to his seat and then allegedly attempted to open an aircraft emergency exit door," (FBI spokesman Gary) Johnson said...Nude man disrupts flight (BostonChannel.com) Source: Boing Boing | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:29 am Judge restores protection for Rockies wolvesA federal judge has restored endangered species protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, derailing plans by three states to hold public wolf hunts this fall. U.S. District...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:13 am Venture capitalists still investing at steady paceTHE BAD: The stock market has turned a cold shoulder to the initial public offerings made by startups, making it more difficult for venture capitalists to realize profits and more reluctantSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:02 am VC investment hold steady in 2Q at $7.4 billionThe pace of U.S. venture capital investments remained steady at $7.4 billion during the second quarter despite a wobbly stock market that has made it increasingly difficult for the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:02 am The Car of Tomorrow Has an Extension CordForget hydrogen. The car of the future has an extension cord and a great big laptop battery. The next evolution of the automobile will be plug-in hybrids that get their juice from a household electrical outlet. They'll start rolling into showrooms within in 18 months. Experts say plug-in hybrids could account for about 20 percent of vehicle sales within a decade -- and half of all sales by 2050. "It all boils down to the three ways electricity is better than gasoline," says Felix Kramer of Cal Cars, a plug-in advocacy group. "It's cleaner, it's cheaper and it's domestic." Advocates say plug-in hybrids are the best chance to address global warming and wean the nation from oil. Consumers remain unsure about electric vehicles. Ethanol's a shaky proposition because of the food-for-fuel debate. And it'll be decades before hydrogen is a viable option. That, advocates say, leaves plug-ins as the best option. They'll go up to 40 miles on a charge; but they'll also have a gas engine to keep you going beyond that at 80 to 100 mpg or more. People have been converting conventional hybrids to plug-ins for years, but the auto industry has been slow to catch on. Now the big automakers and start-ups like Fisker Automotive are scrambling to build them despite questions about their cost and long-term reliability. Those are just two of the issues that automakers, battery manufacturers and utility companies will discuss next week at the international Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose. "The discussion is no longer one of 'if,' but of 'when' and 'how,'" says Chelesa Sexton, executive director of the advocacy group Plug-In America. "This has moved beyond the grass-roots level into the policy and business arenas." It all starts in 2010. General Motors promises to have the Chevrolet Volt rolling into showrooms by then. Toyota says it will roll out a small fleet of plug-in Prius hybrids to see how they do. Volkswagen has similar plans for its plug-in Golf. And Fisker hopes to have a few dozen pricey Karma sedans in driveways within 18 months. Ford and others are moving more slowly, aiming for 2012 and beyond. Automakers know plug-in hybrids are their best shot at meeting tightening federal fuel-economy regulations, and California's zero-emissions-vehicle mandate requires them to put nearly 60,000 of them on the road in six years. They're also responding to a seismic change in the market as record-high gas prices have consumers, fed-up with paying through the nose for gasoline, joining environmentalists to demand fuel-efficient cars. "For the longest time, this was seen as a crunchy environmental California movement," Sexton says. "It never was, but now there's a broad coalition of people sitting at the same table to demand these cars. There's a collective frustration with the status quo." Critics note that most of our electricity is generated by coal or natural gas and say plug-ins don't reduce carbon dioxide, they just move it around. Mark Duvall of the Electric Power Research Institute says they're wrong. His research shows widespread adoption of plug-in hybrids could cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 450 million metric tons annually by 2050. That's the equivalent of removing 82.5 million gasoline vehicles from the road. "There's significant CO2 reduction with plug-in hybrids over conventional vehicles and hybrids, and that reduction increases over time," he says. Duvall's research and a study by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory suggest that the grid could easily supply as many as 168 million plug-in vehicles. "We can handle as many plug-in hybrids as the auto industry wants to provide and people want to drive," he says. "The supply of electricity is almost limitless." All those plug-ins would cut petroleum consumption from 20.6 million barrels a day to 16 or 17 million. But the lithium-ion batteries that will store that electricity remain the cars' Achilles heel. The long-term reliability of lithium-ion batteries remains unknown, and by some estimates they cost as much as $15,000. That'll make selling plug-ins at a price most people can afford a tough proposition until the cars are made in volume -- and the cost of batteries comes down. GM says it doesn't expect to turn a profit on the $40,000 Volt anytime soon. Sales undoubtedly will start off slowly. Analysts don't expect GM to sell more than 30,000 Volts annually for the first couple of years. Other automakers will see similar sales figures until the cost of batteries comes down. "We're looking at small volumes initially," says Mike Omotoso of J.D. Power & Associates. "But we could see critical mass by 2015." Advocates say politicians and policymakers can help by creating tax breaks to make it easier for consumers to buy the cars and automakers to build them. Such incentives -- coupled with perks like carpool-lane access -- helped hybrids gain a foothold, they say, and could do the same for plug-ins. The Department of Energy has handed out more than $60 million since 2006 to advance hybrid and battery technology and hopes to disburse another $62.3 million by the end of next year. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have hailed plug-in hybrids in general -- and the Volt in particular -- in recent weeks and promised to spur development of such cars if elected. And Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, has called for Washington to go further by launching a "New Manhattan Project" that would include getting plug-in hybrids on the road in large numbers. "We have the plug," he says. "The cars are coming. All we need is the cord." 
Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Palatial Tent Proves Nearly Pitch PerfectThis ripstop outdoor shelter gets top marks for comfort. Checklist: quick setup, six gear pockets, dual vents, plenty of sleeping room.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Palatial Tent Proves Nearly Pitch PerfectThis ripstop outdoor shelter gets top marks for comfort. Checklist: quick setup, six gear pockets, dual vents, plenty of sleeping room.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Jul 2008 | 4:00 am Amazon To Launch New Streaming Video ServiceThe New York Times reports that Amazon has begun a limited testing of its new Video on Demand service, which will replace its Unbox store. The significant difference between the two is that the new service will stream movies through your browser rather than requiring you to download them and use Amazon's video player. Users will also retain access to movies and shows they're previously purchased. The service is not expected to be particularly profitable; Amazon is most likely looking to the future.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Jul 2008 | 3:58 am Going Mobile with Windows Live Mesh (PC World)PC World - Microsoft's new, networked file synchronization service can keep your files in order across multiple devices.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Jul 2008 | 3:54 am 3rd UPDATE:Many In Bush Administration Reversed On Greenhouse Gases - CNNMoney.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Jul 2008 | 2:36 am The Inside Story On the San Francisco Network Hijackingsnydeq writes "A source with direct knowledge of San Francisco's IT infrastructure has tipped off Paul Venezia to the real story behind Terry Childs' lockout of San Francisco's network, providing a detailed account of the city's FiberWAN, interdepartmental politics, and Terry Childs himself. Childs pleaded not guilty to charges of tampering yesterday and is being held on $5 million bail. According to the source, Childs' purview was limited to the city's FiberWAN — a network he himself built and, believing no one competent enough to touch the network but himself, guarded religiously, sharing details with no one, including routing configuration and log-in information. Childs was so concerned about the network's security that he refused even to write router and switch configurations to flash. But what may prove difficult for the prosecution in its case against Childs is that his restricted access to the network was widely known and accepted among managers and the city's other network engineers. Venezia, who has been suspicious of the official story from the start, suspects that the Childs case may be that 'of an overprotective admin who believed he was protecting the network — and by extension, the city — from other administrators whom he considered inferior, and perhaps even dangerous.' Further evidence is that fact that the network, from what Venezia understands, has been running smoothly since Childs' arrest."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:55 am Google shares plummet after search leader disappoints with earningsSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:34 am Photograph of jumping shark behind surfers Photog Kem McNair snapped this amazing shot of a spinner shark jumping out of the water behind surfers at New Smyrna Beach, Florida. No, it isn't Photoshopped. CNN.com has a video interview with McNair. Shark and surfers (CNN.com) Source: Boing Boing | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:26 am Obligatory cute animal video to close out the week
FSM knows this isn't new, but for some who stop by Boing Boing, it may be yet-unseen. Dramatic Lemur [actually Tarsier, but whatever, the Chipmunk upon which it's based was a hamster or something IIRC. ] Source: Boing Boing | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:09 am US video game sales seen up 53 percent in June - Reuters
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:01 am Gallery: From Tiny Machines to Security, the Future of Nano-Fabrication : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comLOS ANGELES -- As nanomachines move beyond just prototypes, a potential industry of microscopic mass production awaits its own Henry Ford to make it a reality. In anticipation of this demand, researchers at a nanotech lab at UCLA are mass-producing billions of customizable microparticles using a machine normally found in the microchip fabrication industry. Lead by Dr. Thomas Mason, the team has created microscale letters to illustrate the possibilities of this new process. "The idea is to make a powerful statement about a new class of materials that exist. Solid particles that have human-designed shapes. We can design millions of different kinds of shapes, highly uniform, highly precise," explains Mason. Mason's ultimate goal is to quickly create large quantities of parts for complicated nanomachines. These parts would include nanogears, nanoengines and other small-scale parts that are currently created one at a time in an assembly line fashion. Click through the gallery to go behind the scenes of microfabrication. Left: Billions of microscale letters on a silicon wafer reflect light like a diffraction grating.  : Photo: Thomas G. Mason and Carlos J. Hernandez Zoomed in, one can see the microscale alphabet soup and the potential for information and codes embedded in various substances. Though each letter is a few microns across, this new mass production technique will be able to produce objects on the scale of nanometers with upgraded equipment.  : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comThis is the unglamorous beginning of nanoletter production. The white box at left is the spin coater, which applies the nanoletter polymer on a silicon wafer (see first slide), like the kind used to make microprocessors. First, a drop of the polymer is placed on a silicon wafer. Then the wafer spins and the centrifugal force spreads the liquid evenly over the silicon. The polymer is photosensitive and hardens under exposure to ultraviolet light. In the next steps, the UV light takes on the shape of the desired micro-object and exposes that exact design in the polymer. The unexposed polymer washes away, leaving the hardened shapes, in this case letters, behind -- almost like cutting cookies from a sheet of dough.  : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comThis lamp enclosure emits strong UV light. The light bounces through a series of mirrors into the machine that exposes the nanoletters, called a stepper (shown in next slide).  : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comUCLA nanotech professor Dr. Thomas G. Mason explains the basic operation of the stepper -- so named because it steps, or repeats, an image multiple times over the silicon wafer. The machine prints a microscopic version of the image at each step by shining UV light onto the photosensitive polymer, like the way positive film is exposed.  : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comInside the stepper sits a 200-pound lens encased in stainless steel (center) which very accurately imprints a shrunken image onto the polymer. This lens is ground to an extremely high level of precision to avoid introducing errors into the image being exposed.  : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comA robotic assembly inside the stepper grabs the silicon wafers and exposes it one section at a time. It exposes an entire wafer in roughly one minute, creating billions of micro-objects.  : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comThe stepper rests on a pneumatic dampening system (black cylinders with blue tops) to virtually eliminate vibrations. Just as you don’t want your camera shaking when you take a photo, you don’t want your stepper shaking when you make billions of nanoletters. A positioning platform (middle, illuminated in pink) precisely moves the wafers between exposures.  : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comThis scrapped stepper system sits outside the clean room. It's now used for spare parts, just like that old car on cinder blocks in your front yard.  : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comMason and Kun Zhao don gloves before entering the clean room where the Ultratech XLS stepper resides. Dust particles can ruin the nano and microscale patterns the stepper images on the silicon substrate.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Jul 2008 | 1:00 am Economy Down, PC Sales Up - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Jul 2008 | 12:55 am Wii Remote, Take Two - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Jul 2008 | 12:32 am Motorola sues former executive over iPhone jobLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Motorola Inc has sued a former executive for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement and threatening to reveal its trade secrets by taking a job with Apple...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 19 Jul 2008 | 12:10 am Google shares plummet after disappointing earnings (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Jul 2008 | 12:02 am Google shares plummet after disappointing earningsGoogle Inc. shares plunged nearly 10 Friday after the Internet search leader's second-quarter earnings missed analysts' expectations. Management said economic turmoil in the United...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 18 Jul 2008 | 11:57 pm There’s Lots of Money in Those Old iPhones - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 18 Jul 2008 | 11:51 pm Diebold Patch May Be Evidence of '02 Election TamperingAn anonymous reader writes "Stephen Spoonamore, founder of IT security firm Cybrinth and former advisor to John McCain, claims he has new evidence of election tampering by Diebold in the 2002 Georgia gubernatorial and senate races. A whistleblower gave Spoonamore a patch that was applied to Diebold machines in person by the Diebold CEO. Spoonamore confirmed that the patch did not correct the clock problem it supposedly addressed, but contained two parallel programs. Without access to the hardware, he could not learn more. He reported his findings to the Justice Department, which has not acted."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 18 Jul 2008 | 11:51 pm Pondering Microsoft's 'Everett Dirksen moment' (CNET)CNET - Illinois Sen. Everett Dirksen is remembered for the quip, "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money." (Truth be told, it's unclear whether those were his exact words, but he's got that tagline for posterity.)Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 Jul 2008 | 11:39 pm Silkworm farmingThe new issue of Smithsonian has an interesting short article about traditional sericulture, AKA silkworm farming, in the 16th century. Apparently. one of the hardest parts was keeping the farmhouse at the perfect temperature for incubation. From Smithsonian:Silkworm farming (Smithsonian) Source: Boing Boing | 18 Jul 2008 | 11:34 pm Siamese birdsAn incredibly rare set of conjoined twin birds, attached at the hip, were found earlier this week in White County, Arkansas. The Arkansas game & Fish Commission is sending the barn swallows to the Smithsonian Institution for further examination. No photo in the Associated Press article. Form the AP:While conjoined twins have been documented in humans, other mammals and reptiles, finding conjoined birds is difficult, as they likely die before being discovered, (Arkansas Game & Fish Commission ornithologist Karen) Rowe said. X-rays of the pair found each bird was fully formed, Rowe said. Scientists at the Smithsonian will examine the birds to determine whether they were fraternal twins or identical twins.Siamese birds (Associated Press, thanks Jennifer Lum!) Source: Boing Boing | 18 Jul 2008 | 11:27 pm Dead Penguins Wash Ashore by the HundredsHundreds of penguins are found dead on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Jul 2008 | 11:05 pm Listen Online To Last HOPE ConferenceRadio Statler! writes "This weekend marks 2600's last Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. For those of you that can't make it this weekend, Radio Statler! will be streaming live from the event the whole weekend. There will be simulcasted talks, interviews with speakers and important guests, and music 24 hours a day for the duration of the con. Listeners can request music or submit questions by phone or IRC." The conference schedule (PDF) is available if you're curious about a particular seminar, though not all of them will be broadcast. CNet will be running some related stories about presentations from the conference. So far, they've written about a hacking how-to presentation. We briefly discussed the seventh and final HOPE conference last month.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 18 Jul 2008 | 10:50 pm McCain Announces His Running Mate — The Chevy VoltThe Chevrolet Volt has become the most important political accessory since the flag lapel pin, and Sen. John McCain is all but promising to put one in your driveway.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Jul 2008 | 10:25 pm Researchers Test BitTorrent Live StreamingAn anonymous reader writes "TorrentFreak reports that the Swarmplayer, developed by the P2P-Next research group, is now capable of streaming live video in true 4th generation P2P style using a zero-server approach. With a $22 million project budget from the EU and partners, the P2P-Next research group intends to redefine how video is viewed on the Internet. The researchers have launched a streaming experiment where you can tune in to a webcam in Amsterdam, or a 5 minute weather report (not live) from the BBC. More details about how to set up your own BitTorrent live stream are also available."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 18 Jul 2008 | 10:01 pm Pigeons: The Next Step in Local Eating (No, Really)With global demand for meat threatening to topple the food system, it's time we put Pollan on steroids and remembered: pigeons are fowl.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Jul 2008 | 10:00 pm RIM Fixes BlackBerry Enterprise Server Vulnerability (TechWeb)TechWeb - InformationWeek - The flaw could let malicious PDFs cause problems with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 Jul 2008 | 9:34 pm 'The Dark Knight' -- 'Where Does He Get Those Wonderful Toys?'Batman is just a gadget geek at heart. A very, very wealthy gadget geek. But until recently, he's employed some tech that's, well, pretty unbelievable. Ice skates popping out of boots? Come on! Not in The Dark Knight. Director Christopher Nolan's version of Batman is an almost-believable early adopter, with every high tech gizmo at his disposal firmly grounded in real-world technology. To get the lowdown on the five coolest pieces of gear from the film, we sat down with the film's Oscar-nominated production designer, Nathan Crowley, to find out where the inspiration for each Bat-gadget came from. Bat-PodAfter the Batmobile (aka the Tumbler) is destroyed, Batman is forced to continue his pursuit of the Joker on this machine-gunning, shoulder-navigated, gimbals-sporting two-wheeler. This is a vehicle made for multitasking, allowing Batman to fire its guns, steer hands-free and maneuver hard without much risk of a wipeout. Says Crowley, "If you go over on its side, it keeps you upright."
Real-World Counterpart: Dodge Tomahawk CowlPast Batmen have had a hard time turning their heads (paging Michael Keaton), because the cowl was a solid piece of rubber attached to the suit itself. Not this time. Able to move independently of the suit, Batman's new mask now allows him to crane his head up and down and side-to-side with ease.
Real-World Counterpart: Motorcycle Helmet The Batsuit
The new Batsuit is designed with mobility in mind. Batman can now turn his head up and down and side-to-side. Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures/TM, © DC Comics
"We really wanted to change up the suit," Crowley admits. Adding more protection in addition to more flexibility (and less nipple) than previous versions, the armor worn by Batman comprises hundreds of interlocking plates that move independently of each other. The result? Batman is more mobile, can do more stunts, and can kick a lot more ass.
Real-World Counterpart: Samurai Armor Sticky-Bomb GunWhen Batman has to apprehend a villain in Hong Kong, he utilizes a weapon that fires sticky, orange bomb pellets that adhere to glass. The gun is collapsible, breaking down to small pieces that Batman can store on his belt. "It's more like a piece of origami than anything else," says Crowley.
Real-World Counterpart: Collapsible Rifle 3-D Sonar SystemSince the Joker does not have a lair or a base, Batman must track the constantly mobile madman through the streets of Gotham. To do this he uses a cowl-mounted sonar device that triangulates the baddies' cellphone signals and then renders the sound of their communication into a 3-D visual map.
Real-World Counterparts: Lidar and Sonar
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Jul 2008 | 9:15 pm 'The Dark Knight' -- 'Where Does He Get Those Wonderful Toys?'Batman is just a gadget geek at heart. A very, very wealthy gadget geek. But until recently, he's employed some tech that's, well, pretty unbelievable. Ice skates popping out of boots? Come on! Not in The Dark Knight. Director Christopher Nolan's version of Batman is an almost-believable early adopter, with every high tech gizmo at his disposal firmly grounded in real-world technology. To get the lowdown on the five coolest pieces of gear from the film, we sat down with the film's Oscar-nominated production designer, Nathan Crowley, to find out where the inspiration for each Bat-gadget came from. Bat-PodAfter the Batmobile (aka the Tumbler) is destroyed, Batman is forced to continue his pursuit of the Joker on this machine-gunning, shoulder-navigated, gimbals-sporting two-wheeler. This is a vehicle made for multitasking, allowing Batman to fire its guns, steer hands-free and maneuver hard without much risk of a wipeout. Says Crowley, "If you go over on its side, it keeps you upright."
Real-World Counterpart: Dodge Tomahawk CowlPast Batmen have had a hard time turning their heads (paging Michael Keaton), because the cowl was a solid piece of rubber attached to the suit itself. Not this time. Able to move independently of the suit, Batman's new mask now allows him to crane his head up and down and side-to-side with ease.
Real-World Counterpart: Motorcycle Helmet The Batsuit
The new Batsuit is designed with mobility in mind. Batman can now turn his head up and down and side-to-side. Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures/TM, © DC Comics
"We really wanted to change up the suit," Crowley admits. Adding more protection in addition to more flexibility (and less nipple) than previous versions, the armor worn by Batman comprises hundreds of interlocking plates that move independently of each other. The result? Batman is more mobile, can do more stunts, and can kick a lot more ass.
Real-World Counterpart: Samurai Armor Sticky-Bomb GunWhen Batman has to apprehend a villain in Hong Kong, he utilizes a weapon that fires sticky, orange bomb pellets that adhere to glass. The gun is collapsible, breaking down to small pieces that Batman can store on his belt. "It's more like a piece of origami than anything else," says Crowley.
Real-World Counterpart: Collapsible Rifle 3-D Sonar SystemSince the Joker does not have a lair or a base, Batman must track the constantly mobile madman through the streets of Gotham. To do this he uses a cowl-mounted sonar device that triangulates the baddies' cellphone signals and then renders the sound of their communication into a 3-D visual map.
Real-World Counterparts: Lidar and Sonar Source: Wired: Gadgets | 18 Jul 2008 | 9:15 pm Knights of the Old Republic MMO ConfirmedZafsk writes to tell us Gamespot is reporting that in a surprise move from E3 2008, EA's CEO John Riccitello announced that the long debated BioWare MMORPG is going to be a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic sequel of sorts. Currently the KOTOR MMO is slated for a 2009 release. "BioWare's first Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game was released in 2003 for the original Xbox and PC, and was named the year's top RPG by GameSpot. An Obsidian Entertainment-developed sequel was released in 2004 and 2005 on the same two respective platforms. Both critically acclaimed games are set several thousand years before the events of the Star Wars films, and cast players as adventurers who eventually become powerful Jedi Knights."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 18 Jul 2008 | 9:12 pm Citizen Engineer: new video series on hacking, hardware, and art.Phil Torrone, whose work you may know from MAKE magazine, shares his latest online video project with us -- it looks pretty awesome! Hats off! He explains. Citizen Engineer is an online video series about open source hardware, electronics, art and hacking. The first video debuted at "The Last HOPE" conference today in New York City. Volume 1is about phones: SIM card & payphone hacking. Learn how a SIM card works (the small card inside GSM cell phones) make a SIM card reader, view deleted messages, phone book entries and clone/crack a SIM card. Modify a "retired" payphone so it can be used as a home telephone and for VoIP (Skype). Then learn how to modify the hacked payphone so it accepts quarters - and lastly, use a Redbox to make "free phone" calls from the modified coin-accepting payphone. Source: Boing Boing | 18 Jul 2008 | 9:09 pm Gamemakers Hear the Music Loud and Clear at E3With Rock Band and Guitar Hero revitalizing rock 'n' roll's moneymaking mojo, suddenly everybody's grooving on music games.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Jul 2008 | 9:06 pm Dell Upgrades Linux PCs To Ubuntu's Hardy Heron (TechWeb)TechWeb - InformationWeek - The computer maker has launched two notebooks and a desktop with Hardy Heron, the version of Ubuntu Linux that was released in April.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 Jul 2008 | 9:04 pm Universal Says DMCA Takedown Notices Can Ignore 'Fair Use'Universal Music told a federal judge that it need not consider "fair use" when it sends takedown notices to video-sharing sites like YouTube. The notices require automatic removal of the video. Fair use allows certain limited uses of content without a copyright holder's permission.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Jul 2008 | 8:45 pm Fantastic Contraption show and book Gareth says: Device is a new art gallery in La Jolla, California created by sculptor Greg Brotherton and his wife Amy. Their next show, Fantastic Contraption, opens July 19 (and runs through Sept. 2). The 18-artist show explores the leaky margins between humans and their machinery and includes some of my favorites: Stephane Halleux, Nemo Gould, Theo Kamecke, and Mike Libby (all of whom have appeared here on Make: Blog).Fantastic Contraption show and book (Makezine) Source: Boing Boing | 18 Jul 2008 | 8:38 pm Man's replica BatmobileChris Woodside, 46, of CIncinnati, Ohio is an insurance claims adjuster who owns perfect replica of the Batmobile from the 1966 Batman TV series. Today's Cincinnati Enquirer profiles Woodside, an eBay collector who has 3,000 vintage PEZ dispensers and was previously attempting to build a B9 "Danger, danger!" robot from Lost In Space. He attempted to build the Batmobile too, from a kit, but eventually outsourced the assembly. From the Enquirer (click image to see the full photo):Batmobile replica (Cincinnati Enquirer, thanks Gil Kaufman!) Source: Boing Boing | 18 Jul 2008 | 8:33 pm Big shareholder backs Yahoo board over Icahn (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 Jul 2008 | 8:31 pm Film and Geo-Tag Your Next Car AccidentThe CarCam Voyager Pro not only records what happened, but where and when it happened. Just the thing for convincing your insurance agent you didn't cause that six-car pileup.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Jul 2008 | 8:26 pm Opera Brings iPhone Experience to Windows MobileSoftware-maker Opera has released a new beta version of its popular mobile browser for Windows Mobile devices. Opera Mobile 9.5 is a vast improvement over Microsoft's standard Windows Mobile browser, and it even shows off some iPhone-like behaviors on touchscreen devices.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Jul 2008 | 7:36 pm iPsychedelia: Use Your iPhone to Take Bendy, Distorted PhotosThe iPhone's camera has a bug, but it's a bug you can easily exploit to create stunningly warped photos. All it takes is a well-timed twist of the wrist. Learn more at Wired's How-To Wiki.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 18 Jul 2008 | 7:30 pm European Researchers Developing Touchy-Feely Robots (TechWeb)TechWeb - InformationWeek - The Feelix Growing project is developing software, cameras, and sensors that help robots detect facial expressions, voice, proximity, and other parameters to determine a person's emotional state.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 Jul 2008 | 6:39 pm Earth, As E.T. Would See ItAstronomers view our pale blue dot anew, to help find the next.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Jul 2008 | 6:05 pm U.S. Olympians Shrug Off Smog ConcernsU.S. athletes appear to be taking concerns about Beijing smog in stride.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Jul 2008 | 5:40 pm Nintendo Leads in Sales of Video-Game Consoles (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - In the wake of the big E3 trade show in Los Angeles, sales reports show the Nintendo Wii is the leading video-game console in the U.S. this year.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 Jul 2008 | 4:49 pm Five Things to Do With Your Old iPhoneSo you've made the plunge to the iPhone 3G -- what about your old, first-generation iPhone or iPod Touch? Here are five ways to turn it from yesterday's news into something useful, from a multitouch controller for your Mac or Windows PC to a mini media server for your kitchen.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 18 Jul 2008 | 3:35 pm Web-Crawling Program ID's Disease OutbreaksBy scouring online social sites, a new program pinpoints disease.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Jul 2008 | 3:13 pm Vestigial Vocal Organ Muffles Human SpeechThe human voice box bears a relic from our very vocal primate past.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Jul 2008 | 2:57 pm Blog: Earth Ringed With DebrisA new image reveals the shocking amount of clutter around Earth.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Jul 2008 | 2:10 pm Tiny Bug Threatens to Take Down U.S. Citrus CropsThe Asian citrus psyllid can destroy entire groves of citrus trees.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Jul 2008 | 2:10 pm
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Comment by Scott Segal, Director
