|
|
|
|
Papparazzi Bashing - Kanye West Arrested After Smashing Photographer's Camera (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) Kanye West was involved in a fight with a photographer in which a camera was allegedly smashed on the floor. According to reports on MSM police arrested West and his bodyguard and...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 3:41 pm High Tech Fashion Runways - Vivienne Tams HP LapTop Makeover (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Vivienne Tam unveiled a hot new fashion accessory at her fashion show during Bryant Parks Mercedes Benz Fashion Week - a red hot HP laptop with her signature peony design. The...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 3:40 pm ‘Spore’ Stage 5: My Take And Will Wright’s Take - MTV.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:17 pm NetEase's Board Approves New Share Repurchase ProgramBEIJING, Sept. 12 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- NetEase.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTES), one of China's leading Internet and online game services providers, today announced that...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:04 pm Xbox 360 barely outsells PS3 in August - GamePro.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:02 pm Novell Appoints Javier Colado General Manager PartnersNew executive role will drive partner strategy and channel transformation worldwide WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL)...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm TechWeb and O'Reilly Media Announce Second Annual Web 2.0 Expo EuropeLeading Web 2.0 keynotes from Europe and the US will meet in Berlin to share key insights on the progress and state of Web 2.0 SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ --...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Panasonic Avionics Corporation and CoKinetic Systems to Create the First In-flight B2B Developer's MarketplaceLAKE FOREST, Calif. and White Plains, N.Y., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Panasonic Avionics Corporation (Panasonic), the world's leading supplier of in-flight...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Plants for a FutureIn the 1970s British bus driver Ken Fern went back to the land. Twenty-five years later he published the first edition of this now-revised compendium, a catalog and guide to a staggering number...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Tribune Media Services to Launch Multiple Purchase Options Through New Online CatalogEnhancements to delivery platform increase access to TMS content CHICAGO, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Tribune Media Services (TMS), a global content-licensing agency,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm HRmarketer's New Community Emerges as One of the Human Resource Industry's Largest Information ResourcesMore than 1,000 white papers and other content now available to HR professionals in high-tech portal CAPITOLA, Calif., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- HRmarketer.com's...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Convera(R) and IOP Publishing Launch a Vertical Search Site for the Global Photonics CommunityVIENNA, Va., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Convera Corporation (Nasdaq: CNVR) -- href="http://www.convera.com">http://www.convera.com -- a leading provider of...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Looker Lumet Finds A ForestAnd a gorgeous forest it is, with a dark, fog-shrouded lake at its center, and abounding potential for mystery in all its fine details. Called Hollow Forest, Looker Lumet notes it as one among several...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:57 pm Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Copyright CopsI Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the EIPA (the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008), which would create copyright cops. And these cops would take over the RIAA's War on Sharing by filing civil lawsuits and using civil forfeiture laws to take any and all computers engaged in infringement. Worse, they would even seize computers (such as servers or database farms) that house the data of innocent people, and these people would not have any right to get their data back. At best the 'virtual bystanders' who happened to have data on a computer used for infringement could get a protective order saying that no one should go rummaging through their stuff. Perhaps the only good thing in the bill is that they've excluded DMCA circumvention from the list of grounds for seizure. So while the Senators believe this is needed to combat foreign copyright infringement cartels, it's entirely likely that innocent people will be harmed by this law."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:54 pm Mozilla’s Firefox 3.1 To Offer Privacy Mode As Well - eFluxMedia
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:51 pm New Theory: Pure Luck Propelled Dinosaurs As Rulers Of The Earth - eFluxMedia
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:32 pm Panasonic Launches First 'Micro Four Thirds' Camera - Wired News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:31 pm Sony Creative Software Offers Free Vegas Pro Updates for Broadcast Workflows and 64-bit Video EditingVegas Pro 8.0c Features XDCAM HD 4:2:2 Camera Support, Fit-to-Fill Editing and Trimmer Tool Enhancements Including Source/Preview Mode; Vegas Pro 8.1 is Industry's First Available...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:30 pm Jingwei to Present at Merriman Curhan Ford's Investor Summit 2008Regis Kwong, CEO, is Scheduled to Present Tuesday September 16th at 10:45AM SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 12 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Jingwei International Limited...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:30 pm Metracom and DataPath(R) Partner to Market MaxView(R) Network Management System in EuropeMetracom Provides DataPath With Expanded Sales and Services Arm in the European Commercial and Government Market Segments DULUTH, Ga., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ --...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:30 pm Wasting 280,951 Office Post-Its - The Sticky Note Experiments (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) What do you get when you combine 280,951 Post-It notes, a 30 by 40 room and two EepyLabs videographers? One viral video entitled The Sticky Note Experiments. EepyLabs mad scientists...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm Toyota MR2 Custom In-Dash Computer Puts KITT To ShameBy Andrew Liszewski I don’t know what’s more surprising, how elaborate this Toyota MR2’s custom in-dash PC installation is, or the fact that the owner has actually decided to sell the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:19 pm Apple boring? Get over it - CNNMoney.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:16 pm Security expert: Google anonymization not anonymous enough - Ars Technica
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:14 pm YouTube Bans Terrorist Training VideosVirtual_Raider sends in an Australian news story that begins "Terrorist training videos will be banned from appearing on YouTube, under revised new guidelines being implemented by the popular video-sharing site. The Google-owned portal will ban footage that advertises terrorism or extremist causes and supporters of the change hope it will blunt al-Qaeda's strong media online campaign. The move comes after pressure... from Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman... [T]he new YouTube guidelines includes bans on videos that incite others to commit violent acts, videos on how to make bombs, and footage of sniper attacks."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:07 pm Antec Skeleton Case Makes Upgrades Easy, Stays Extra CoolBy Andrew Liszewski If you’re the type who prefers to build their own PC, but are getting tired of all the boring and uninspired tower cases available on the market, you might want to check out Antec’s...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:02 pm kilby1lgWhen it comes to all the gadget-y things that now fill up our world — from computers to mobile phones — we should thank Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce, the inventors of the integrated circuit...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 pm Adobe aims to stave off Silverlight with video encoder (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - Ratcheting up the battle for the rich media space, Adobe Systems later this year plans to offer Adobe Flash Media Encoding Server, which is software to move video content to Adobe's Flash format.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 pm Canadian man changes name to beat no-fly listA Canadian record exec has changed his name in order to get off the TSA's no-fly list: he had his identity stolen and ended up spending one to six hours being questioned every time he boarded a plane:"I was pulled aside in a room ... and you have to wait your turn to finally be released," Labbé said. "An hour, an hour and a half, two hours, whatever it is after. Once I was caught in Miami like that for six hours.Quebec man changes name to dodge relentless airport screening (Thanks, Happy Mutant PaulR!) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:37 am Canadian man changes name to beat no-fly listA Canadian record exec has changed his name in order to get off the TSA's no-fly list: he had his identity stolen and ended up spending one to six hours being questioned every time he boarded a plane:...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:37 am Celebrity Squares: McFly's Harry Judd makes sure he doesn't miss his favourite telly showsWhat's your favourite piece of technology?My Sky+ box.How has it improved your life?A lot, because we lead very busy lives and I'm a huge fan of television and it's enabled me to record lots of programmes...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:24 am Celebrity Squares: Sky+ rocks, says McFly's Harry JuddWhat's your favourite piece of technology?My Sky+ box.How has it improved your life?A lot, because we lead very busy lives and I'm a huge fan of television and it's enabled me to record lots of programmes...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:24 am Op-Ed Contributor The Origins of the Universe: A Crash Course - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:22 am Seinfeld-Gates TV commercial No. 2: 3 times longer, 3 times funnier? - Computerworld
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:19 am New iTunes Genius not so smart some of the time - Ars Technica
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:18 am Et Tu, Mozilla? Firefox 3 To Get Privacy ModeCWmike writes "Mozilla will respond to Google's Chrome and Microsoft's IE8 with its own private-browsing, or 'porn' mode in Firefox, according to notes posted on its Web site, and is on track to deliver one in 3.1, the version that will likely go beta next month."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:11 am 80% of Pot Crop Invades ParklandBy Judy Keen CHICAGO -- Mexican drug cartels are stepping up marijuana cultivation in U.S. national parks and on other public land, endangering visitors and damaging the environment, law enforcement and National Park Service officials say.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Gary Bogue: Bert Found a Wild Place in the Middle of TownBy Gary Bogue special attention to the flight of the hawk rising from the pine -- haiku by Jerry Ball, Walnut Creek URBAN WILDERNESS Wouldn't it be nice to live in your own little wildlife sanctuary right in the middle of town? Some people do.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Conestoga To Star In Dairy ShowThe All-American Dairy Show kicks off Saturday at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg and is set to top last year's number of animals and exhibitors. The show also has a Lancaster County event: a tour of Star Rock Dairy in Conestoga Sunday.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am NEC Joins Microchip Alliance HOT STOCKSNEC Electronics, the Japanese chip maker, said it would team up with IBM and others to develop next-generation microchips in a bid to reduce mounting development costs.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Latest Pace Innovation Makes Wireless Video Services ViablePace plc (LSE:PIC), the leading developer of digital TV technologies, is introducing its latest innovation in wireless technology at IBC - the Pace Connection Suite - a crucial step in enabling operators to launch viable wireless in-home video services to subscribers.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am South Korea: Google Acquires Korean Blog Tool FirmText of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap Seoul, Sept.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Virtual 'Friendship' is DeniedBy Miss Manners by Judith Martin DEAR MISS MANNERS: A manager in my organization has invited me to join her as a "friend" on a social networking site, and someone with whom I've exchanged one or two work-related e-mails has invited me to a business networking site.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am By Cellphone or TV, Marketers Try to Reach Young With Video CampaignsBy Stuart Elliott For years, MTV has been bringing together eclectic groups of young adults to live together in loftlike spaces on the series "The Real World." Now, with the backing of a major technology marketer, the network has gathered 16 youthful creative types in a loft in New York for a contest that can be watched on TV or online.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Four Pace Experts to Speak At IBC ConferenceFour leading experts from Pace plc (LSE:PIC), the leading developer of digital TV technologies, will be speaking at the IBC 2008 conference in Amsterdam.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Consumer Demand Driving More Than 80% of European Broadcast Organisations to Offer High Definition Video Content Online, Akamai RevealsAkamai Technologies, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Site Offers Look at Favorite DinosaursIf you don't know your ichthyosaur from your iguanadon, you might want to look up search4dinosaurs.com to see illustrations of dinosaurs great and small. The site is a collection of links to other Web pages, and some of the illustrations are bland, but most are very colorful and realistic.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am New Ways to Network the HomeNew ways to connect and share content around the home will be demonstrated by Pace plc, the leading developer of digital TV technologies, at IBC 2008.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Google Privacy Plan Embraced By the EU BRIEFING: BRUSSELSThe top justice official in the European Union welcomed a move by Google to halve to nine months the time it stores personal data gathered from its users' Web surfing habits.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Vertical stripes make you look fatterThe fashion gurus have got it all wrong, claims an expert in visual perception. Wearing clothes with vertical stripes doesn't make you look thinnerSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:48 am Get Creative With These Pixel Drink CoastersBy Luke Anderson Not long ago I invested in a new desk for myself. I’d had the old one for several years, and after moving a few times it was beginning to look a little ragged. One thing I told myself...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:36 am Network Location Turns Your Mac into a GPS BoxNetwork Location is a Mac application that has been around for some time. It's main purpose is to change your Mac's settings when you move around: Connect to the server automatically when you get to the office, switch off your email when you get home, lock the keychain at the coffee shop and so on. New in v.3, though, is support for Skyhook, the Wi-Fi triangulation service used by the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:21 am Network Location Turns Your Mac into a GPS BoxNetwork Location is a Mac application that has been around for some time. It's main purpose is to change your Mac's settings when you move around: Connect to the server automatically when you get to the office, switch off your email when you get home, lock the keychain at the coffee shop and so on. New in v.3, though, is support for Skyhook, the Wi-Fi triangulation service used by the iPhone and iPod Touch.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:21 am NXP Semiconductors to cut 4,500 staffNXP Semiconductors BV says it will close or sell four plants and cut 4,500 jobs.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:03 am You don't know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - It was a big week for really small things. Apple unveiled new music players, BlackBerry rolled out new phones, even Microsoft had a few Zune announcements hidden in there -- but nothing quite as small in size or as big in importance as the particles soon to be flying out of the Large Hadron Collider.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:00 am European phone operators deny EU cost plans will help consumers (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:35 am Adam Rutherford: Teenagers are not stupid, even if creationism isAdam Rutherford: By all means let's debate it in schools: that way we can prove that science is a far, far better way of knowing the worldSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:30 am Amazon.com hires Microsoft exec: NY Post (Reuters)Reuters - Amazon.com Inc has appointed a senior Microsoft Corp executive to head its U.S. advertising sales as the global Internet retailer ramps up its online ad business, The New York Post reported.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:13 am Denis Alexander: The theology of evolutionDenis Alexander: I believe in God, am a devout Darwinian and a biologist. Sounds like a contradiction but then why should I have to choose?Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:32 am Professor Michael Reiss on teaching science to creationistsRevd.Professor Michael Reiss of the Royal Society wants creationism to be taught and explained in science lessonsSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:31 am Kids' Dalek videoSteve sez, This is really lovely... just bumped into it while looking for Dr Who clips on youtube with my recently-Dr-Who-obsessed-6-yr-old son who is filling in the essential history/backstory of the doctor!Dalek Invaders 2008ad (Thanks, Steve!) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:06 am A Two-Dimensional Solution of the Advection-Diffusion Equation With Dry Deposition to the GroundBy Tirabassi, Tiziano Buske, Daniela; Moreira, Davidson M; Vilhena, Marco T ABSTRACT A mathematical scheme is developed to simulate the vertical turbulent dispersion of air pollution that is absorbed or deposited to the ground.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:00 am BusinesslineBy Anonymous News and Notes from Materials" Industries Agilent Technologies Inc.: Agilent Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, California) acquired the Nano Instruments business of MTS Systems Corporation.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:00 am A Role for a Menthone Reductase in Resistance Against Microbial Pathogens in Plants1[C][W][OA]By Choi, Hyong Woo Lee, Byung Gil; Kim, Nak Hyun; Park, Yong; Lim, Chae Woo; Song, Hyun Kyu; Hwang, Byung Kook Plants elaborate a vast array of enzymes that synthesize defensive secondary metabolites in response to pathogen attack.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:00 am Research Progress in TiB^Sub 2^ Wettable Cathode for Aluminum ReductionBy Li, Jie Lu, Xiao-jun; Lai, Yan-qing; Li, Qing-yu; Liu, Ye-xiang Titanium diboride wettable cathodes are regarded as ideal for aluminum reduction because of their excellent wettability with molten aluminum.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:00 am Novel Rhamnogalacturonan I and Arabinoxylan Polysaccharides of Flax Seed Mucilage1[C][OA]By Naran, Radnaa Chen, Guibing; Carpita, Nicholas C The viscous seed mucilage of flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a mixture of rhamnogalacturonan I and arabinoxylan with novel side group substitutions.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:00 am Council Rejects 'Splash Pad' Water Conservation, Cost Cited As Reasons for DenialBy Neil Nisperos CHINO HILLS - The city decided this week not to build a children's water play area in the Butterfield Ranch neighborhood, after a cost of $458,850 was presented for the project.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:00 am River Park Need a HandTHE troubles associated with making a park out of an old duck farm off the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway are real, but not insurmountable.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:00 am Yahoo's home page, other sections to get makeover (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:58 am Google Unsure About Letting Users Vote On Searchnarramissic writes "Google began running a live test last year that lets people rank and remove search engine results and comment on them. Testers were presented with different variations of the experiment, which the company first publicly detailed about two weeks ago in an official blog posting. For example, in one version of the test, people can only remove results, while in another they can append comments that only they can see, said Google software engineer Matt Cutts. But while implementing these features permanently would be a major step for Google in giving more participation to its users, the company remains undecided. 'It's a really fun experiment. I can't say for sure whether it will go live for everybody because we're always running a ton of experiments. Only some of those, the ones that are being very successful, are launched live for everybody,' said Cutts. In the meantime, Google is collecting data that offers some interesting search quality insights."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:46 am Tech groups ITAA and AeA may merge to gain lobbying cloutA merger would create the tech industry's leading association, ITAA's president says. Most major industries have...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am Six Degrees Games hopes to become a heavy hitter in the virtual worldNBA, MLB and ESPN brands are expected to give heft to ActionAllStars.com, the Marina del Rey firm's sports portal for kids. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am Orange County student gets probation for hacking into school computerTanvir Singh, 18, of Ladera Ranch was one of two at Tesoro High accused of changing their grades to improve their chances of admission to college. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:00 am Germ-free baby under glass: scientific parenting of 1947The lost art of parenting, 1947-style:Showcase baby (Mar, 1947) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 6:58 am North Texas house burns because local authorities switched off hydrants "to fight terrorism"A house in North Texas burned downHe explains all the district's hydrants, including those in Alexander Ranch, have had their water turned off since just after 9/11 - something a trade association spokesman tells us is common practice for rural systems.Wait wait wait. Turned back on with a tool? So these fire-hydrants will prevent terrorists who are capable of poisoning the water supply through them, but only if they're incapable of getting a tool? Are the fire hydrants in your neighborhood turned on? (via Schneier) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 6:54 am Michigan GOP attacks right-to-vote for the recently foreclosedRepublican strategists in Michigan have confirmed that they plan to challenge the right to vote for people on a list of recent foreclosures, though these people may still be living in their homes, renegotiating or fighting the order. The largest foreclosure firm in the area donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to the GOP, and the Republican-controlled Senate killed the bills that would have given foreclosure relief. Michigan is a swing state.Joe Rozell, director of elections for Oakland County in suburban Detroit, acknowledged that challenges such as those described by Carabelli are allowed by law but said they have the potential to create long lines and disrupt the voting process. With 890,000 potential voters closely divided between Democratic and Republican, Oakland County is a key swing county of this swing state.Lose your house, lose your vote (via Making Light) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 5:42 am Steampunk gallery show in Seattle: AnachrotechnofetishismAnachrotechnofetishism, a new gallery show of 13 steampunk artists, opens tonight in Seattle at the Suite 100 Gallery:Anachrotechnofetishism (Thanks, Jake!) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 5:35 am Canadian Tories argued for stronger copyright laws, but appropriate copyright when it suits them
The Canadian Conservative party is in trouble for appropriating copyrighted news-video for a web app that lets supporters make their own campaign ads. It's significant because this is the party that tried -- through the now-dead Canadian DMCA -- to bring in copyright laws that would raise the penalties for this sort of appropriation.
But you know what? As much as I dislike the Tories and as much as I appreciate the irony (as a friend used to say to the anti-lyrics-censorship, pro-copyright-censorship people in the record industry, "I know you love free speech, I just wish you'd share it with the rest of us!"), I think that they should be allowed to do this without copyright hassles. Look: they're engaged in political speech, using news-footage to criticize politicians. Whether it's "out of context" or not (surely a subjective matter), this should be a slam-dunk. No copyright system should restrict quotation on news in the pursuit of political speech -- the purposes of copyrights -- encouraging creativity, encouraging investment -- are not undermined by political commercials. This is why we fought against the Canadian DMCA after all: because we wanted Canadians to have the right to express themselves with a minimum of locks and fears. If you only support free expression for people who agree with you, you don't support it at all. Some of the clips might look familiar. They have been taken from an Agenda interview with Stephane Dion, snapped off the context and put them to work. And that is where an ad like this can cause trouble. Now the Conservatives are going to have to deal with the embarrassment of being told to take the clips down (sort of like when Heart told Sarah Palin to stop playing Barracuda at her rallies).That Conservative site steps in it again, this time dragging the Agenda along (Thanks, Mike!) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 5:33 am Terror cops hunt down ornamental castor bean plantA man in Orem, Utah had the Homeland Security flying squad at his house because he'd planted a castor bean plant on his front lawn, prompting a neighbor or passing snitch to decide he was making ricin:A startled homeowner got a visit from Orem Police Tuesday afternoon. They were interested in a plant that he was growing by his mailbox in the front yard. They were so interested that they put a call into Homeland Security. No, it wasn’t marijuana. It was a castor bean plant...Orem man's bean plant investigated (Thanks, Sam!) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 5:17 am Interplanetary Internet Tested In SpaceAnonymous Coward writes "After Vint Cerf planned the Interplanetary Internet, there's a press release saying that the Interplanetary Internet is now being tested in space, using the Bundle Protocol developed by the Delay-Tolerant Networking Research Group. There's a conference paper with details on the testing too. These guys were previously the first to test IPv6 in space. Now they've found something with even fewer users than IPv6 to play with!"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 12 Sep 2008 | 4:32 am The Slo'Reilly FactorGeraldo Rivera and Bill O'Reilly arguing at half-speed. I am easily amused, and find this riotously funny when they start screaming at each other about a minute or so in. The Slo'Reilly Factor. Previously on Boing Boing: Angry Tyra Banks Godzilla, Angry Tyra Banks Chipmunk. (thanks Supersly!) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 4:17 am Sept. 12, 1958: Kilby Chips In, Integrates Circuit1958: New hire Jack Kilby shows his Texas Instruments colleagues a little something he's built. A very little something: a working integrated circuit on a piece of semiconductor material. The world will soon change. Electronics had relied on vacuum tubes for half a century before Bell Labs invented the transistor in 1947. Transistors were tinier, more reliable, longer-lasting, cooler and more energy-efficient. But connecting hundreds or thousands of them in a complex circuit required wire and solder. That cost money, took time and created thousands of ways for the circuit to fail. Texas Instruments, or TI to insiders, was working on the U.S. Army Signal Corps' Micro-Module program when Kilby joined the firm in 1958. Micro-Modules proposed to make all components the same size, so they could be snapped together to create circuits without wire or solder. Most of the company's employees went on a two-week vacation in July, but Kilby hadn't earned any vacation time yet. He used his solitude to good effect. "Further thought led me to the conclusion that semiconductors were all that were really required," Kilby later wrote. "[R]esistors and capacitors [passive devices], in particular, could be made from the same material as the active devices [transistors]. I also realized that, since all of the components could be made of a single material, they could also be made in situ interconnected to form a complete circuit." Kilby constructed a prototype of the integrated circuit by September. It was a sliver (a chip, you might say) of germanium with wires sticking out, glued to a glass slide about the size of a thumbnail. The stakes were high for the new guy. Among those assembled for the Sept. 12 demonstration were then-chairman Mark Shepherd and other execs. Kilby connected his device to an oscilloscope and threw the switch. There on the screen, a continuous sine curve pulsed, and a new era began.
As recounted many times in This Day in Tech and elsewhere, there's often an And as is often the case -- again, oft recounted here -- scientific and technological advances frequently occur with nearly simultaneous independent discovery or invention. In this case that would be Fairchild Semiconductor engineer Robert Noyce, who was working on an integrated circuit using silicon instead of germanium. Kilby and TI were first to file for a patent for "miniaturized electronic circuits" in February of 1959. Noyce and Fairchild filed their application for a silicon-based integrated circuit six weeks later in April. It was granted in 1961, and TI didn't get its patent until 1964. Fairchild and TI engaged in a lengthy legal battle before agreeing to cross-license their technologies. Noyce's silicon chip eventually triumphed over Kilby's germanium. Noyce went on to co-found Intel with Gordon Moore. Kilby went on to share the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics. The Nobel website acknowledges that "Kilby and Noyce are considered to be co-inventors of the integrated circuit." However, Noyce died in 1990, and Nobel rules prohibit granting the prize posthumously. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, germanium to silicon. Kilby died in 2005 in a world where microchips permeate every aspect of our daily life, from the inner space of our bodies to the outer space of the cosmos, at home, at play and on the job, in our cars, in our ears ... indispensable. Source: Texas Instruments, Today in Science
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Sep 2008 | 4:00 am Gallery: Faster, Smaller, Cheaper — 50 Years of Integrated Circuits : Photo: Courtesy Texas InstrumentsNotebooks, smartphones, Blu-ray players -- name a gadget, and it probably wouldn't exist today without the integrated circuit. Not only did the IC give rise to the modern consumer electronics industry, but it has also kept that industry moving at breakneck speed, allowing for cheaper, smaller and more-powerful chips to be produced year after year with dazzling consistency. So, it's easy to forget that it's only been five decades since Texas Instruments' Jack Kilby demonstrated the first working IC, a discovery that earned him a Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000. While that device started out as nothing more than a single transistor with a smattering of other components on a thin slice of germanium, its silicon progeny now contain hundreds of millions of transistors in a space the size of a single red blood cell. Not bad progress for a half-century's work. Left: Consisting of five components linked by a tangle of wires, the first integrated circuit wasn't particularly pretty. But it did prove that a device could be built with all its circuit components on the same piece of semiconducting material -- in this case germanium -- rather than using individual, discrete parts. The circuit was the handiwork of Kilby, who was trying to solve the so-called "tyranny of numbers" problem. Though the invention of the transistor more than a decade earlier at Bell Labs had rendered vacuum tubes obsolete, engineers faced a vexing new problem by the late '50s: All those discrete components -- transistors, diodes, capacitors and the like -- still had to be connected manually to form electronic circuits. This was impractical for obvious reasons, so Kilby came up with a new solution. Realizing that the semiconductor was really the most-important ingredient in the circuit stew, he found that other passive components -- like resistors and capacitors -- could actually be made from the same material as the semiconductor. "I … realized that, since all of the components could be made of a single material, they could also be made in situ interconnect to form a complete circuit," Kilby explained in his 1976 article, "Invention of the IC."  : Image: U. S. Patent OfficeThe birth of the IC adheres nicely to the notion of simultaneous invention, recently elucidated by Malcolm Gladwell. Turns out, the concept was on the minds of many engineers in the 1950s. In fact, there were multiple people working independently on more or less the same idea both before and after Kilby's circuit was built. One of those engineers was Fairchild co-founder Robert Noyce. The year after Kilby built the first working IC, Noyce filed a patent for a "Semiconductor device-and-lead structure." In 1960, engineers at Fairchild produced the first working monolithic IC, a complete circuit integrated on a single piece of silicon (instead of germanium) and interconnected by traces of conductive material deposited on the surface. It was Noyce's approach to building an IC that finally yielded a practical method for manufacturing integrated circuits in large quantities. Both Kilby and Noyce received the National Medal of Science, and they are considered co-inventors of the IC.  : Photo: Courtesy Texas InstrumentsDespite the clear advantages of integrated circuits (low cost, better performance), it took a while for the industry to find practical applications. As is often the case with new technologies, it was the military and various other government entities that first expressed interest. In 1961, Texas Instruments built something called the "Molecular Electronic Computer" for the U.S. Air Force as a way of demonstrating that 587 ICs could actually replace 8,500 transistors. NASA's interest in the technology was also piqued in the early '60s, and integrated circuits eventually found their way into NASA's Apollo Guidance Computer, as well as its Interplanetary Monitoring Probe (IMP), which went into orbit in 1963.  : Photo: Courtesy Spaceline.org In 1962, Texas Instruments won a lucrative contract from the Autonetics Division of North American Aviation to design 22 custom circuits for the Minuteman I and II missile-guidance systems. That system was not only the first missile to use integrated circuits, but was also the first military use of solid-state technology in general. By 1965, the Air Force had surpassed NASA as the single largest buyer of ICs in the world.  : Photo: Courtesy Fairchild Camera & Instrument Corp.Intel co-founder Gordon Moore (left, 1962) also played an integral role in the evolution of the IC. In 1965, while still the R&D director at Fairchild Semiconductor, Moore wrote an internal paper, "The Future of Integrated Electronics," that attempted to predict the development of integrated electronics for the next 10 years. Moore eventually projected that the number of components per chip would reach 65,000 by that year -- essentially doubling every 12 months. Of course, we now know this idea as Moore's Law, the driving force in the computer industry for close to four decades now. While Moore eventually pushed his back his rate of increase from 12 to 24 months, he still has recently admitted to being "perpetually amazed" at the chip industry's ability to keep pushing out the fundamental limits of his law.  : Photo: Courtesy IntelIn the '60s, calculators were hulking machines the size of desktops that had to be plugged into power outlets. The IC changed all that. Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation tapped Intel in 1969 to design 12 custom chips for a new calculator it was developing, the Busicom 141-PF (left). Running considerably behind schedule, Intel engineers Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin and Stan Mazor proposed an alternative design: a family of four chips, including one that could be programmed for use in a variety of products. Thus, the 4004 was born.  : Photo: Courtesy IntelAs time progressed, the integrated circuit gave way to the microprocessor, a complete computation engine fabricated on a single chip. Intel's 4004 wasn't the first commercial microprocessor, but it was the first to be sold as a component on the open market. Measuring 1/8 inch by 1/6 inch, the microprocessor delivered about the same computing power as the first electronic computer, the ENIAC, according to Intel's Ted Hoff. The only difference was that in 1946, ENIAC used 18,000 vacuum tubes and filled an entire room.  : Image (right): Hamilton Watch CompanyFrom pocket calculators to digital watches, the next major commercial application for the IC was "the wrist computer." The Microma LCD digital watch was the first product to integrate a complete electronic system onto a single silicon chip, also known as a System-On-Chip (SOC). A SOC integrated circuit incorporates all the electronic components, including analog and interface circuitry, required to implement a system on a single chip. The right-hand image shows the guts of a precursor to the fully realized SOC, the Hamilton Pulsar. The wristwatch sold for $2,100 in 1970 ($11,900 in today's money).  : Photo: Courtesy Intel Today, chip manufacturers like Intel and AMD can cram unprecedented numbers of transistors into multicore chips. Current 45-nanometer transistors are so small you can fit about 30 million of them on the head of a pin. What's more, the price of an individual transistor in today's processors is about a millionth the average price of a transistor in 1968, lending credence to Gordon Moore's famous quip: "If the auto industry advanced as rapidly as the semiconductor industry, a Rolls Royce would get a half a million miles per gallon, and it would be cheaper to throw it away than to park it."
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Sep 2008 | 4:00 am Gallery: Faster, Smaller, Cheaper — 50 Years of Integrated Circuits: Photo: Courtesy Texas InstrumentsNotebooks, smartphones, Blu-ray players -- name a gadget, and it probably wouldn't exist today without the integrated circuit. Not only did the IC give rise to the modern consumer electronics industry, but it has also kept that industry moving at breakneck speed, allowing for cheaper, smaller and more-powerful chips to be produced year after year with dazzling consistency. So, it's easy to forget that it's only been five decades since Texas Instruments' Jack Kilby demonstrated the first working IC, a discovery that earned him a Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000. While that device started out as nothing more than a single transistor with a smattering of other components on a thin slice of germanium, its silicon progeny now contain hundreds of millions of transistors in a space the size of a single red blood cell. Not bad progress for a half-century's work. Left: Consisting of five components linked by a tangle of wires, the first integrated circuit wasn't particularly pretty. But it did prove that a device could be built with all its circuit components on the same piece of semiconducting material -- in this case germanium -- rather than using individual, discrete parts. The circuit was the handiwork of Kilby, who was trying to solve the so-called "tyranny of numbers" problem. Though the invention of the transistor more than a decade earlier at Bell Labs had rendered vacuum tubes obsolete, engineers faced a vexing new problem by the late '50s: All those discrete components -- transistors, diodes, capacitors and the like -- still had to be connected manually to form electronic circuits. This was impractical for obvious reasons, so Kilby came up with a new solution. Realizing that the semiconductor was really the most-important ingredient in the circuit stew, he found that other passive components -- like resistors and capacitors -- could actually be made from the same material as the semiconductor. "I … realized that, since all of the components could be made of a single material, they could also be made in situ interconnect to form a complete circuit," Kilby explained in his 1976 article, "Invention of the IC." : Image: U. S. Patent OfficeThe birth of the IC adheres nicely to the notion of simultaneous invention, recently elucidated by Malcolm Gladwell. Turns out, the concept was on the minds of many engineers in the 1950s. In fact, there were multiple people working independently on more or less the same idea both before and after Kilby's circuit was built. One of those engineers was Fairchild co-founder Robert Noyce. The year after Kilby built the first working IC, Noyce filed a patent for a "Semiconductor device-and-lead structure." In 1960, engineers at Fairchild produced the first working monolithic IC, a complete circuit integrated on a single piece of silicon (instead of germanium) and interconnected by traces of conductive material deposited on the surface. It was Noyce's approach to building an IC that finally yielded a practical method for manufacturing integrated circuits in large quantities. Both Kilby and Noyce received the National Medal of Science, and they are considered co-inventors of the IC. : Photo: Courtesy Texas InstrumentsDespite the clear advantages of integrated circuits (low cost, better performance), it took a while for the industry to find practical applications. As is often the case with new technologies, it was the military and various other government entities that first expressed interest. In 1961, Texas Instruments built something called the "Molecular Electronic Computer" for the U.S. Air Force as a way of demonstrating that 587 ICs could actually replace 8,500 transistors. NASA's interest in the technology was also piqued in the early '60s, and integrated circuits eventually found their way into NASA's Apollo Guidance Computer, as well as its Interplanetary Monitoring Probe (IMP), which went into orbit in 1963. : Photo: Courtesy Spaceline.org In 1962, Texas Instruments won a lucrative contract from the Autonetics Division of North American Aviation to design 22 custom circuits for the Minuteman I and II missile-guidance systems. That system was not only the first missile to use integrated circuits, but was also the first military use of solid-state technology in general. By 1965, the Air Force had surpassed NASA as the single largest buyer of ICs in the world. : Photo: Courtesy Fairchild Camera & Instrument Corp.Intel co-founder Gordon Moore (left, 1962) also played an integral role in the evolution of the IC. In 1965, while still the R&D director at Fairchild Semiconductor, Moore wrote an internal paper, "The Future of Integrated Electronics," that attempted to predict the development of integrated electronics for the next 10 years. Moore eventually projected that the number of components per chip would reach 65,000 by that year -- essentially doubling every 12 months. Of course, we now know this idea as Moore's Law, the driving force in the computer industry for close to four decades now. While Moore eventually pushed his back his rate of increase from 12 to 24 months, he still has recently admitted to being "perpetually amazed" at the chip industry's ability to keep pushing out the fundamental limits of his law. : Photo: Courtesy IntelIn the '60s, calculators were hulking machines the size of desktops that had to be plugged into power outlets. The IC changed all that. Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation tapped Intel in 1969 to design 12 custom chips for a new calculator it was developing, the Busicom 141-PF (left). Running considerably behind schedule, Intel engineers Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin and Stan Mazor proposed an alternative design: a family of four chips, including one that could be programmed for use in a variety of products. Thus, the 4004 was born. : Photo: Courtesy IntelAs time progressed, the integrated circuit gave way to the microprocessor, a complete computation engine fabricated on a single chip. Intel's 4004 wasn't the first commercial microprocessor, but it was the first to be sold as a component on the open market. Measuring 1/8 inch by 1/6 inch, the microprocessor delivered about the same computing power as the first electronic computer, the ENIAC, according to Intel's Ted Hoff. The only difference was that in 1946, ENIAC used 18,000 vacuum tubes and filled an entire room. : Image (right): Hamilton Watch CompanyFrom pocket calculators to digital watches, the next major commercial application for the IC was "the wrist computer." The Microma LCD digital watch was the first product to integrate a complete electronic system onto a single silicon chip, also known as a System-On-Chip (SOC). A SOC integrated circuit incorporates all the electronic components, including analog and interface circuitry, required to implement a system on a single chip. The right-hand image shows the guts of a precursor to the fully realized SOC, the Hamilton Pulsar. The wristwatch sold for $2,100 in 1970 ($11,900 in today's money). : Photo: Courtesy Intel Today, chip manufacturers like Intel and AMD can cram unprecedented numbers of transistors into multicore chips. Current 45-nanometer transistors are so small you can fit about 30 million of them on the head of a pin. What's more, the price of an individual transistor in today's processors is about a millionth the average price of a transistor in 1968, lending credence to Gordon Moore's famous quip: "If the auto industry advanced as rapidly as the semiconductor industry, a Rolls Royce would get a half a million miles per gallon, and it would be cheaper to throw it away than to park it." Source: Wired: Gadgets | 12 Sep 2008 | 4:00 am HOWTO: Take jaw-dropping photos with a mid-grade digital camera and worklights Photo: Ray Dobbins (click for big)
The Velosniper points us to the amazing bicycle photography of Ray Dobbins. Using consumer cameras, Ray gets tremendous results in his modest garage photography studio. Ray's process has been perfected with considerable trial and error, but surprisingly little money. With a $30 tripod, $35 halogen Sears work lights and a $55 roll of seamless, Ray has proven that I can no longer blame my camera for my poor quality photos. From Ray Dobbins: I started with a very cheap 3.2 megapixel digital camera, the Olympus Camedia D-395. About four months ago I moved up to a better camera, the 4.0 megapixel Kodak EasyShare DX7440. It has a better lens, more features and higher optical zoom, which really helps with the close-ups. However, all things being equal, the difference in the quality output between the two cameras is not significant. One of my best looking albums, the Colnago Oval CX, was taken with the Olympus. The big difference is in the features. So don't think that you need an expensive camera - even my new one only cost around $300.00. Take a look at the Colnago Oval CX gallery, consider your own photographs and then come to the grips with the fact that he took those photographs with a generations-old digital camera that routinely sells on eBay for under $40! Ouch! We suck! Ray rules!  Photo: Ray Dobbins (click for big) Ray Dobbins Photo Set-up (via Velosniper) Source: Boing Boing | 12 Sep 2008 | 2:54 am Video game industry shows signs of slowing (CNET)CNET - Sales of video game software and hardware in the U.S. rose 9 percent in August to $1.08 billion, the smallest monthly increase in more than two years, according to data released Thursday by market researcher NPD Group.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Sep 2008 | 2:50 am Star Wars: the Force Unleashed Demo Sets Xbox Download RecordThe demo version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was released a few weeks ago for download through Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. Now, LucasArts has announced that the game shattered records for the number of downloads on Xbox Live, taking only eight days to reach 1 million. The full version is due out next Tuesday, and LucasArts will be holding a launch party in San Fransisco on Monday night to celebrate. The game is part of a multimedia project which includes a best-selling book, a comic, action figures, and other tie-ins. According to Eurogamer's interview with producer Cameron Suey, previous Star Wars games suffered from a "lack of ambition." Suey also shows off some of the gameplay in a video. A video walkthrough of the PS2 and PSP versions is available at Kotaku. The game will not be available for PC. Early reviews for the game are good, but not great, and developers recently mentioned that George Lucas himself provided input on the project.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:40 am Taking Nature's Pulse With MicrophonesScientists are using the sounds of nature to help check the health of ecosystems. By analyzing the sounds emanating from natural habitats, they can monitor biodiversity, animal behavior, human environmental impacts and the effects of climate change on nature.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:00 am Jedi Knights Course Offered By Queen's University BelfastStarting in November, Queen's University Belfast will offer a course that will use the psychology of the Star Wars Jedi Knights to teach students communication skills and personal development. The university's publicity material reads 'the course "Feel the Force: How to Train in the Jedi Way" teaches the "real-life psychological techniques behind Jedi mind tricks"' and promises to explore 'wider issues behind the Star Wars universe, like balance, destiny, dualism, fatherhood and fascism.' The course is very affordable but the droid fees are outrageous.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:35 am A Beginner's Guide to Blogging With TumblrIt's one of the simplest blogging systems around -- just post an image, a video or a snippet of text and get on with your busy life. We'll show the basics of setting up your own Tumblr site, then give you some tips for dressing up your "tumblelog" by adding some after-market accessories.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Geeks Guide to Travel PlanningThe web is a geek traveler's almanac. You can find all sorts of travel information not available on your cheap tourist map. We'll show you how to prepare for you next trek by scouting out weather, photos, terrain and communication all thanks to the magic of the internet and handy gadgets.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am US video game sales rise 9 percent in August (AP)AP - U.S. sales of video game hardware and software rose 9 percent in August to $994.8 million, boosted by the popularity of the newly released "Madden NFL 09."Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Sep 2008 | 11:47 pm Video games sales rise 9 pct in August: NPD (Reuters)Reuters - U.S. video games sales rose 9 percent in August from a year earlier, marking the smallest monthly sales increase in more than two years, according to data from research firm NPD on Thursday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Sep 2008 | 11:36 pm Cross-Platform Video Chat For Linux?Ethan1701 writes "Some of my friends are using iChat to stay in touch and gap the distance of the Atlantic. I'm feeling left out on my Fedora Gnome based desktop. Is there a good program for Gnome that provides cross-platform instant messaging and video chat? This rules out Skype and aMSN, as well as any other app that's specific for the ICQ/AOL Network. Kopete is for KDE. Pidgin doesn't intend to develop video-chat, I haven't found a plugin for it that provides video, and Gaim-vv hasn't been developed in over two years and is so out of date that it's still going by Gaim and not Pidgin. Do Slashdot readers have an application that meets these needs? Maybe even one that surpasses iChat?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 11 Sep 2008 | 11:28 pm The Many Faces Of Sarah Palin OnlineHumor sites parodying Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain's vice presidential pick, are proliferating online.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 11 Sep 2008 | 11:00 pm Ubuntu To Pay for Upgrades To the Free Software User Experiencejcatcw writes "Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols reports that Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, is using his millions to improve the Linux user experience, hiring people to work on X, OpenGL, Gtk, Qt, GNOME and KDE. He had doubted that desktop Linux could ever equal the smooth, graceful integration of the Mac OS. Now, between the driving pace of open-source development, and Shuttleworth's millions, it might be happening. Why not? After all, Mac OS itself is based on FreeBSD. Desktop Linux's future is starting to look brighter."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 11 Sep 2008 | 10:31 pm Fast Google Chrome Browser Is Building a Following (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - Though it has only been available since the start of September, the new beta version of Google Chrome is already attracting a following. As of Wednesday evening, about one percent of Internet surfers were using Google's open-source browser, according to Net Applications. By comparison, the longtime Opera browser had a 0.74 percent share of the global browser market in August.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Sep 2008 | 10:02 pm Yahoo Announces Plans for Website MakeoverYahoo is preparing to tweak several popular sections of its website during the next few months to accommodate more material from rival services as the internet company tries to polish its tarnished franchise.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 11 Sep 2008 | 9:45 pm Toyota Plug-In Now Testing in Great BritainToyota test drivers smugly avoid London's congestion fees as they test a fleet of plug-in Prius hybrids.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 11 Sep 2008 | 9:31 pm ITunes 8 a Real Killer App; Taking Down VistaCWmike writes "Apple 's latest version of iTunes crashes Windows Vista when an iPod or iPhone is connected to the PC, scores of users have reported on Apple's support forum. Plug in and Vista crashes and shows the 'blue screen of death.' The errors began showing up immediately after updating iTunes to Version 8.0, which Apple released Tuesday as part of its iPod refresh. 'I just installed iTunes 8 over my iTunes 7 on Vista [and] now whenever I plug in my iPod, I get a blue screen death. Three times so far. Even if it is plugged in on boot, I get a blue screen," said a user identified as 'sambeckett' on the support forum about 90 minutes after Apple CEO Steve Jobs wrapped up the iPod launch."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 11 Sep 2008 | 9:30 pm Senate Committee Expands Justice Department Copyright Enforcement PowersThe Senate Judiciary passed legislation Thursday granting the U.S. Justice Department the power to prosecute civil cases of copyright infringement. Hollywood and manufacturers strongly backed the measure. Vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden did not vote.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 11 Sep 2008 | 8:42 pm Phone carriers reprise Gustav plans for Ike (AP)AP - With Hurricane Ike bearing down on the Texas Gulf Coast, telecommunications providers are getting a quick opportunity to reprise the preparedness plans they activated last week to cope with Hurricane Gustav.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Sep 2008 | 8:19 pm IPhone Takes Screenshots of Everything You Do Says HackerIn a webcast Thursday, iPhone hacker and data-forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski explained that the iPhone stores a screenshot of everything you do -- and that these screenshots are potentially accessible to hackers and law enforcement officials.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 11 Sep 2008 | 5:26 pm Tiny Frog, Believed Extinct, Found in AustraliaA small frog, not seen since 1991, is found again in Australia's tropical north.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Sep 2008 | 4:10 pm North American Fish Under ThreatNearly 40 percent of freshwater fish species in North America are in jeopardy.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Sep 2008 | 3:04 pm World's Most Powerful Magnet Under ConstructionA reusable magnet will be two million times stronger than your average magnet.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Sep 2008 | 1:34 pm Africa's 'Unicorn' Caught on CameraThe okapi, so rare it was once believed a myth, has been seen in the wild for the first time.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Sony Reveals First Full-Frame DSLR and New Zeiss LensesWith a few exceptions, today's DSLRs are distinguished by two things: megapixel count and low light performance. Other than this, the constant catchup game played by the camera manufacturers means that any genuinely new feature soon pops up on everybody else's models. So it is with Sony's Alpha A-9000, its new full-frame flagship DSLR. 24.6 megapixels and a maximum ISO of 6400 (in extended mode)Source: Wired: Gadgets | 11 Sep 2008 | 11:50 am
|
