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AMD to spin off factories in bid to save money (AP)AP - In a move to dramatically cut costs and better compete with Intel Corp., chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Tuesday it will spin off its factories into a new joint venture with investors in the Persian Gulf state of Abu Dhabi.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:46 pm Google Street View and Emoji coming to iPhone 2.2 - Wired Blogs
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:25 pm AMD to Split Into Two Operations - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:19 pm 1 American, 2 Japanese Share Nobel Physics Prize - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:17 pm Election Dirty Tricks About To BeginAn anonymous reader writes "ABC is warning that dirty election tricks are about to start. In the past, they've ranged from late-night robo-calls to voter intimidation. ABC has a pretty good list of what to watch out for as told by Allen Raymond, a former Republican operative, who was reformed after spending three months in prison in 2006 for pulling some of the stunts he now helps to prevent." To make this story timely, last week someone broke into a McCain campaign office in Missouri and stole a laptop computer containing "strategic information" about the local campaign.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:16 pm Apple May Already Have Sold 10 Million iPhone 3Gs - Wired News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:57 am Netflix Adjusts Fourth-Quarter ForecastNetflix, an online DVD rental company, cut its fourth-quarter forecast, driving down its shares by 11 percent. The company is blaming its slow subscriber growth on current U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:45 am Biofuel boom threatens food security, UN agency warnsThe UN food agency cast doubt Tuesday on the potential of biofuels to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while warning that their development threatens food security. "The...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:43 am Linux Netbook Returns: Not Surprising, but Likely Avoidable - OStatic
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:34 am Protecting Critical Habitat For Polar BearsThree conservation groups have reached a settlement with federal officials on polar bear habitat.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:30 am RealDVD Works Great - If You Can Get It - TechNewsWorld
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:15 am Microsoft's (un)secret weapon for winning the BI battle - Computerworld
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:12 am Pratt & Whitney Exhibiting at Defendory InternationalATHENS, Greece, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney is exhibiting at Defendory International 2008, Oct. 7 - 11 in Athens, Greece, at the Hellenikon Exhibition Center.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:10 am Cars set to get parental controls - BBC News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:09 am Mac Optic Exhibiting at Defendory InternationalATHENS, Greece, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Mac Optic is exhibiting at Defendory International 2008, Oct. 7 - 11 in Athens, Greece, at the Hellenikon Exhibition Center. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:08 am Land Rover - Defender Military Vehicles Exhibiting at Defendory InternationalATHENS, Greece, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Land Rover - Defender Military Vehicles is exhibiting at Defendory International 2008, Oct. 7 - 11 in Athens, Greece, at the Hellenikon...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:07 am The International Special Training Centre (ISTC) Exhibiting at Defendory InternationalATHENS, Greece, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Special Training Centre (ISTC) is exhibiting at Defendory International 2008, Oct. 7 - 11 in Athens, Greece, at the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:06 am INTRACOM Defense Electronic Exhibiting at Defendory InternationalATHENS, Greece, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- INTRACOM Defense Electronics is exhibiting at Defendory International 2008, Oct. 7 - 11 in Athens, Greece, at the Hellenikon Exhibition...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:05 am Euro Freight Services Shipping and Transport LTD Exhibiting at Defendory InternationalATHENS, Greece, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Euro Freight Services Shipping and Transport LTD is exhibiting at Defendory International 2008, Oct. 7 - 11 in Athens, Greece, at the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:03 am ComponentOne Releases FrontLine 2008Knowledge-based software provides a turnkey support portal with unique document import, knowledge management, and customization technology PITTSBURGH, Oct. 7...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:03 am DMS technologies Exhibiting at Defendory InternationalATHENS, Greece, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- DMS technologies is exhibiting at Defendory International 2008, Oct. 7 - 11 in Athens, Greece, at the Hellenikon Exhibition Center.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:02 am AXON Engineering Exhibiting at Defendory InternationalATHENS, Greece, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- AXON Engineering is exhibiting at Defendory International 2008, Oct. 7 - 11 in Athens, Greece, at the Hellenikon Exhibition...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:01 am Research and Markets: Vodafone Technology Day: CEO Arun Sarin and Senior Management Team Present a Detailed Look at Various Specific Aspects of Its BusinessResearch and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/10ed22/vodafone_technolog) has announced the addition of the "Vodafone Technology Day" report to their offering.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Replisaurus Taps Industry Heavyweight Mike Thompson to Lead Commercialization of TechnologyWhen you want to commercialize a remarkable new metallization technology, it makes sense to enlist the help of someone with remarkable skill in bringing technology out of the lab and into the fab. Replisaurus Technologies, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Emergency Declared in Eastern Slovak Town As Chemicals Store BurnsText of report in English by Czech national public-service news agency CTK Kosice, East Slovakia, 7 October: A fire broke out in a store of chemicals in Presov, east Slovakia, this morning and an emergency situation was declared in the town.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am EPA Recognizes Esurance Among Nation's Leading Green Power PurchasersSAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Esurance, the direct to consumer auto insurance company, announced its induction into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Green Power Leadership Club.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Mojave Offers Plenty of TrailsBy Margo Bartlett Pesek The return of cooler months to the desert invites exploration of the sprawling Mojave National Preserve just over the Nevada border in Southern California.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Thinning Pines Enables Ground Covers to GrowBy Linn Mills Here are issues that were brought up to me this past week at the Springs Preserve. Thinning pines: Pines are beautiful when they are properly thinned.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Polar Bear Habitat to Be DesignatedBy Renee Schoof WASHINGTON -- Environmental groups and the Bush administration reached a partial court settlement on Monday that requires the Department of Interior to designate critical habitat for polar bears by June 30, 2010.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Red Alert As 25 Per Cent of Mammal Species in Danger of Dying OutBy Jenny Haworth Environment Correspondent FROM the enormous African elephant to the tiny elephant-shrew, thousands of animals face extinction unless urgent action is taken, according to the biggest survey ever carried out into the world's mammals.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Young People Removing Weeds in San LeandroBy Karen Holzmeister SAN LEANDRO -- Young men and women in the Civicorps program Monday began whacking away at the black mustard weed in west San Leandro. The invasive weed is on about 6.8 acres of marshland, just west of the Mission Bay Mobile Home Park.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am For Mammals, Nowhere to RunBy Dan Vergano Many animals worldwide, from toads to tigers, face extinction, a "terrifying possibility" underlined by the release Monday of a report on mammals.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am EDITORIAL: The 'Science' of Yucca MountainMillions of years ago, Nevada and the rest of the Great Basin were covered by a shallow inland sea. The fossilized remains of creatures that lived in and along that sea can still be dug from exposed sand and gravel faces throughout this desert.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Will Samsung Lift Bid for SanDisk to Reflect Royalties? DEALTALKBy Anupreeta Das SanDisk could be worth $34 to $36 a share if Samsung Electronics were to sweeten its offer to reflect the value of royalties it pays to the U.S. flash memory maker, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am IBM Plans Collocation Center in ScotlandIBM has announced plans for a new data center at its Greenock facility in Scotland to provide collocation services to medium-sized organizations.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am The Water CoolerBy John Przybys Here are a few of the things in news, entertainment and pop culture that we've been talking about lately. n Las Vegas' historic Fifth Street School is re-dedicated as an arts and culture center.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Intercast Networks Expands Kazam Video Service to Universities Across the USNEW YORK, October 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Intercast Networks, the pioneer in personalized video delivery to storage, announces the expansion of its free Kazam video service to a select number of US university campuses with more to follow in the coming weeks.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Industry Visionary Dave Lewis Joins Message Systems As CMOMessage Systems, a global leader in digital messaging solutions, today announced that Dave Lewis has joined the company as chief marketing officer.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Newspapers Turn to 2ergo to Extend Content Beyond PrintARLINGTON, Va. and MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Nielsen Mobile, 13 million U.S. consumers use their phones to read the news, and by deploying a mobile version of a Web site, publishers can extend a site's reach by 13 percent.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Google-Yahoo Alliance Faces Sharper ResistanceBy Miguel Helft The U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Mercury, up close and personal: Photos to be revealed today - CNN International
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:41 am Big Blue goes social with Bluehouse collaboration platform - Ars Technica
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:24 am Humans have reached a genetic zenith, says evolution expertHumans have reached a genetic utopia due to high life expectancy and racial mixingSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:10 am The perfect laptop, take two (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - A number of readers responded to our call to describe their perfect notebook. We were pleased to discover they generally agreed with major elements of our WorldBook design, especially the integrated smartphone and the embedded solar panel. We also learned that features we excluded for being too expensive or impractical might have enough market appeal to justify another crack at doing them affordably.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:00 am MSI Wind Now On Sale In Best Buy Stores For $400By Evan Ackerman It’s taken more than a little while, but the MSI Wind (which I personally really, really like when it comes to netbooks) seems to have finally arrived somewhere where you have a...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:56 am 17 Places for Kim Kardashian and Misty May to Boogie After 'Dancing with the Stars' (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) Curvaceous Kim Kardashian was reportedly heartbroken after her elimination from Dancing with the Stars, and gold medalist Misty May-Treanor hobbled onto Monday nights show to formally...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:49 am Linux-Based E-Voting In BrazilJohn Sokol writes "I just heard from a good friend and Linux kernel hacker in Brazil that they have just finished their municipal election with 128 million people using Linux to vote. They voted nationwide for something like 5,000 city mayors. Voting is mandatory in Brazil. The embedded computer they are using once ran VirtuOS (a variant of MS-DOS); it now has its own locally developed, Linux-based distro. These are much nicer, smaller, and cheaper than the systems being deployed here in the US. Here is a Java-required site with a simulated Brazilian voting system. It's very cool; they even show you a picture of the candidate you voted for."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:36 am Ebay's $1.3bn spending spreeOnline aucton house to cut more than 1,000 jobsSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:21 am Links: CBOE Setting Records, Citadel Troubled, etc.Some quick links to items of interest: The CBOE set a volume record on option trading in September (CBOE) Best year ever for options traders (Bloomberg) List of the 31 (!) stocks with >$1b...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:08 am Does Your Browser Know Where You Are? With Mozilla Geode, It MightToday, the old real estate adage—location, location, location—could just as easily be applied to the Web, where it seems that "where you are" is becoming as important as the information...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:05 am RPGs And Tanks Make Baseball Exciting AgainBy Evan Ackerman Back in the day, I played baseball. Second base, to be specific. I quit about the time I got old enough to calculate the odds of me getting the ball on any given pitch (not good) and moved...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:58 am Indian Terrorists Attack More Mobile Phone TowersAttacks on mobile phone towers in India's Bihar state has stepped up, with over half a dozen of them being blown up in the past one week, police said, reports Cellular News. Towers have become a soft...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:52 am ReadWriteWeb Expands Silicon Forest Empire - Rick Turoczy Joins UsOur newest writer started tonight, Rick Turoczy - who many of you will know from his tech blog Silicon Florist. Rick is yet another RWW writer who hails from Portland, Oregon, USA. Marshall Kirkpatrick...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:50 am Universe In The Metaverse: Garrett Lisi Explores An E8 Polytope In Second LifeThe E8 Polytope, on display in Rezzable Visions-- direct SLURL teleport at this link Last weekend a candy-colored platinum blond named Wizard Gynoid stood in Second Life space, while a latticework of colored...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:49 am Lightbulbs Could Replace Wi-Fi HotpsotsBoston University's College of Engineering is launching a program, under a National Science Foundation grant, to develop the next generation of wireless communications technology based on visible light...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:47 am appssavvy Raises $3.1 Million To Connect Social Media Developers, Advertisersappssavvy, a company that aims to help pair developers on social media platforms with advertisers and brands, has closed a $3.1 million Series A funding round led by TRUE Ventures. Also joining the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:33 am Jury clears way for New York Plaza in Las Vegas: report (Reuters)Reuters - A jury ruled on Monday that the owners of New York's Plaza Hotel could use the Plaza name on a proposed $5 billion resort-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, despite the existence nearby of another Plaza Hotel and Casino, the New York Times said in a report on its Web site.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:41 am Will Yahoo and AOL Ever Stop Talking and Make a Deal? (In Related News, Generalissimo Francisco Franco Is Still Dead.)
Back in the first season of “Saturday Night Live,” one running catchphrase uttered by Chevy Chase would always crack the then-12-year-old BoomTown right up: “This breaking news just in: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.” It’s that same kind of extreme déjà vu I feel with the continuing drip-drip-drip of the news-less news that Time Warner’s AOL and Yahoo are still talking about a merger. Both Silicon Alley Reporter’s (and soon-to-be AllThingsD.com blogger) Peter Kafka and I wrote extensively about the talks on in mid-September, noting that the discussions centered around merging AOL’s content, advertising and software assets with Yahoo (minus the access business). There were the price issues–Yahoo wanted to pay between $6 and $8 billion, while Time Warner has long wanted $10 billion– as well as the worries about integration (East Coasties versus West Coasties) and email dominance monopoly problems. As I wrote on September 23rd, for example:
Now comes yet another story yesterday from TechCrunch that the talks are–wait for it–still on. The story recounted similar details and added in even older ideas from previously reported AOL-Yahoo talks (some multi-billion-dollar cash infusion from Time Warner, for example). And, said TechCrunch, it could happen this month! Good gracious–October is, like, a really long month. And, if not October, I guess November is good or maybe December. Hey, what about 2009? Actually, what everyone really would like to know is what the heck is taking Time Warner (TWX) and Yahoo (YHOO) so long, hashing over the same issues (price mostly), especially if it is such a stellar idea? And, with the economy crashing all around and Yahoo’s and Time Warner’s stock hitting five-year lows, one has to wonder what exactly the pair are waiting for? A more fortuitous reading of the entrails? A sign from the heavens? Better winds? Well, I hate to inform Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, but the tide is not turning anytime soon and both their companies are getting weaker by the minute.
I once called the pairing of AOL and Yahoo a little like leaning two drunks against each other to keep them from toppling over. Looking back, I will admit that was a little harsh. Given the stakes now though–and especially if Yahoo has to abandon its controversial search ad outsourcing deal with Google (GOOG)–it makes sense to combine forces. In the online ad space, for example, Yahoo and AOL mostly compliment each other. The same is true in email and communications tools. And, while Bebo is not the prize Time Warner touted it as, despite paying a king’s ransom for it, Yahoo has no social networking property. The only area of true overlap is in content. Here, based on many sources, I would imagine if a deal is ever struck that Yahoo will slash and burn most of AOL-branded properties, keeping only interesting newer brands like sports blog FanHouse, celeb blog TMZ and the Engadget, Tuaw and JoyStiq tech blogs. And, in fact, if the pair even gets its act together–this or next week would be great for us–it will give them the much-needed impetus to start making the massive cuts needed at both Web outfits for a long time now. In that regard, look for an AOL exec like its President Ron Grant to be buttonholed to swing that particular ax. Yahoo, with its less confrontational culture, has never been good at that kind of thing. For all its many flaws, it is a talent AOL will surely bring to the party. If, of course, Yahoo and AOL ever manage to throw one before they become too much like Generalissimo Franco. You know: Still dead. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:11 am Not So Secret AppleBy Nicholas Ciarelli, Former Publisher, Think Secret After my Apple news site, Think Secret, published details of Apple’s Mac mini two weeks before the product was officially announced, the company sued me in an attempt to ferret out the leaker. But lately, there are signs that Apple—long the most secretive company in the tech world—has thrown in the towel on fighting leaks. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:02 am What is Wall Street These Days, Anyway?By Andy Kessler, Co-founder, Velocity Capital Management Before the last of Wall Street gets sold off as day-old fish on Fulton Street or washed into the East River altogether it’s worth asking, what is Wall Street these days anyway? Thanks to Dick Grasso and CNBC, most of us think of Wall Street as balding men in ugly solid-colored suits yelling at each other and throwing litter on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Not even close. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:01 am Digital Climbs as Ad Pages SlipBy Maureen Morrison, Reporter, Ad Age Magazine publishers trudged through a sputtering economy, holding ad pages comparatively steady while making solid digital gains. Magazine 300 ad pages in 2007 slid 1.3%, while circulation revenue fell 1.2%. But U.S. magazine employment last year edged up 0.7%. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am RIAA v. The People: Five Years LaterBy The Electronic Frontier Foundation On September 8, 2003, the recording industry sued 261 American music fans for sharing songs on peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks, kicking off an unprecedented legal campaign against the people that should be the recording industry’s best customers: music fans. Five years later, the recording industry has filed, settled, or threatened legal actions against at least 30,000 individuals. … But suing music fans has proven to be an ineffective response to unauthorized P2P file-sharing. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Publisher of Orange County Register may have violated loan termsFreedom Communications Inc., owner of the Orange County Register, said that it might be in violation of loan agreements and that it was in discussions with its lenders.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Fuming over formaldehydeThe CDC demoted a 'whistle-blower' who warned of contaminant in hurricane victims' trailers, a report says. The...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am EBay to cut 10% of workforce, buy 3 firms for $1.3 billion; shares slideThe online auction firm plans to lay off about 1,000 full-time employees and as many as 600 temporary workers as it purchases Web credit company Bill Me Later and two Danish classifieds sites. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am One-fourth of wild mammal species may face extinctionA survey, released in Barcelona at the World Conservation Congress, evaluates the status of the world's 5,487 mammal species. The prognosis is not good. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Nobel Prize awarded for AIDS, cervical cancer researchThe awards recognize two French researchers who discovered the human AIDS virus and a German scientist who showed that human papilloma virus causes cervical cancer. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Mono 2.0 and .NET On LinuxSeveral readers noted the release of Mono 2.0, which is compatible with Microsoft's .NET Framework 2.0. According to Miguel de Icaza, "... users can move over server applications built for .NET and client applications built with Windows Forms." InternetNews points out that only about half of the .NET apps out there will work on Mono 2.0, for a variety of reasons including (but not limited to) legacy Windows-only libraries and Microsoft's progress on .NET 3.0 and 3.5 APIs.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 6:59 am Industrial Origami snaps up $17 million (CNET)CNET - In its third round of funding, Industrial Origami secured $17 million on Monday toward commercializing its fold-up sheet metal technologies for building cars and household appliances.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Oct 2008 | 6:26 am Internet ad spend helps hold off advertising downturnInternet advertising spend is "propping up" traditional media, according to a report, surging 21% year on year to 1.68bn in the first six months of 2008.The resilience of internet ad spend in the downturn...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 6:09 am Advertising spend buoyed by rush to internetInternet advertising spend is "propping up" traditional media, according to a report, surging 21% year on year to 1.68bn in the first six months of 2008.The resilience of internet ad spend in the downturn...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 6:09 am Report: AMD to spin off its manufacturing unitsAdvanced Micro Devices Inc. will announce Tuesday it is spinning off its manufacturing operations as part of a sweeping plan to cut cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 7 Oct 2008 | 5:05 am Ford To Introduce Restrictive Car Keys For Parentsthesandbender writes "Ford is set to release a management system that will restrict certain aspects of a car's performance based on which key is in the ignition. The speed is limited to 80, you can't turn off traction control, and you can't turn the stereo up to eleven. It's targeted at parents of teenagers and seems like a generally good idea, especially if you get a break on your insurance." The keys will be introduced with the 2010 Focus coupe and will quickly spread to Ford's entire lineup.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:21 am Video: Neil Gaiman Gives Away 'The Graveyard'The Sandman author reads from his new book, about a boy who hangs out with dead people, and posts the clips online for free. Gaiman talks about Graveyard in a video interview with Wired.com.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Fruits of the Comcast-Plaxo Marriage: Fan PagesIf it wasn't immediately obvious why Comcast forked over a reported $150 million for Plaxo, a social networking site, it may become clearer later this month, when Plaxo officially launches Fan Pages for FanCast, Comcast's online video site. The social features available in beta now let users join fan groups of various TV shows, where they can share episodes and discuss plot developments to their heart's content with fellow obsessives.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Gallery: Inside Secretive New Solar-Tech Factory: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com FREMONT, California -- Solar photovoltaics make up a tiny percentage of the world's power largely because they just cost too much. Burning fossil fuels remains cheaper than even the best solar panels. But Solyndra's new thin-film technology could substantially cut the cost of manufacturing and installing solar electricity, perhaps reaching the cost of standard power within a few years. The venture-backed company, which came out of stealth mode today, gave Wired.com access to their new whirring fab, installed in a former hard-drive factory. Most of the equipment was designed in-house by Solyndra's 500 employees with the aid of more than $600 million in venture capital. "We've put a lot of effort into very sophisticated process control," Kelly Truman, VP of business development told Wired.com. "We design and build all the critical equipment in the factory ourselves." Left: Solyndra's solar modules enter the factory as simple glass tubes a few feet long, seen here awaiting a special cleaning process. : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com Designed with automation in mind, the factory's many robots do much of the work in transporting the panels of glass tubes around the floor. : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com The glass tubes are dipped in a series of solutions including coatings of copper indium gallium diselenide, known as CIGS. Here we see finished tubes, which have lost their transparency. : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com As the panels receive...Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Solar Goes From Gardens to GigabucksA California company has a billion dollars worth of orders in hand for a new solar product that could soon blanket the tops of flat-roof buildings across the nation.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Oct. 7, 1959: Luna 3's Images From the Dark Side1959: The space probe Luna 3 takes the first photographs of the dark side of the moon. The radio-controlled Luna 3 was part of the Soviet Union's highly successful lunar program, which completed 20 missions to the moon between January 1959 and October 1970. Although the United States won the race to land a human on the moon, the Russians achieved a number of their own lunar milestones, including the first flyby (Luna 1), first surface impact (Luna 2), first soft landing (Luna 9) and first lunar orbiter (Luna 10). Luna 3's mission objective was to provide the first photographs from the moon's far side. To achieve this, the probe was equipped with a dual-lens 35mm camera, one a 200mm, f/5.6 aperture, the other a 500mm, f/9.5. The photo sequencing was automatically triggered when Luna 3's photocell detected the sunlit far side, which occurred when the craft was passing about 40,000 miles above the lunar surface. Luna 3's camera took 29 photographs over a 40-minute period, covering roughly 70 percent of the moon's far side. The photographs were developed, fixed and dried by the probe's onboard film processing unit. Seventeen images were successfully scanned and returned to Earth on Oct. 18, when Luna 3 was close enough to begin transmitting. Although the low-resolution images had to be boosted by computer enhancement on Earth, in the end they were good enough to produce a tentative map of the dark side. Among the identifiable features were two seas, named Mare...Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Pimp My Pony: Gear for the Equestrian CommuteGas gas hovers around $4 a gallon, your Prius-driving neighbors are cruising smugly all the way to Whole Foods. Sure, you could join their self-satisfied ranks. Or you could commute in style — on a horse (if your city's ordinances allow it). The timing is good: Equestrian gear recently got some serious and long-needed upgrades. High tech, Silver, away! 1 // Bitless Bridle Robert Cook's Bitless Bridle is an evolution of an ancient pony-friendly design. It steers with straps that crisscross under the muzzle: To turn left, draw the left rein away from your steed's neck, applying pressure to the right cheek and turning its head in the direction you want to go. 2 // Ultralight Helmet Old-school hats were just velveteen-sheathed plastic. Today's models, made of high-density polystyrene, are almost half the weight of the classic style yet can withstand several hundred Newtons of force. 3 // Carbon-Fiber Saddle Leather seats have all the give of a two-by-four, and a bad fit can cause your horse's vertebrae to dip. The Swedish company Linear has designed a modular seat (for a custom fit) with a carbon-fiber core to spread your weight as evenly as possible. 4 // Polyurethane Wraps To better protect tendons and joints from accidental hoof slaps, wool wraps are being replaced by boots padded with gel and carbon fiber. An outfit called Veredus molds its shells from 54-Shore TPU, a tough polyurethane mixture that stays flexible down to 5\0xB0F. 5 // Springy...Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Pimp My Pony: Gear for the Equestrian CommuteGas gas hovers around $4 a gallon, your Prius-driving neighbors are cruising smugly all the way to Whole Foods. Sure, you could join their self-satisfied ranks. Or you could commute in style — on a horse (if your city's ordinances allow it). The timing is good: Equestrian gear recently got some serious and long-needed upgrades. High tech, Silver, away! 1 // Bitless Bridle
2 // Ultralight Helmet
3 // Carbon-Fiber Saddle
4 // Polyurethane Wraps
5 // Springy Stirrups
6 // Flexible Shoes
Source: Wired: Gadgets | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Clive Thompson: Why Veteran Visionaries Will Save the WorldDon't trust anyone over 30. That's the prevailing wisdom in Silicon Valley, a land once again bestrode by millionaire CEOs who just learned to shave. Many people believe that the breakthrough ideas come only from the young. And why not? Media stories constantly recite the ages of a few famous founders: Bill Gates of Microsoft, 20; Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, 20; the Google boys, 25; YouTube's Chad Hurley, 28. Tumblr founder David Karp is 21 — and on his second successful company. Young people rule tech innovation, we tell ourselves, because they have several key advantages. They're fearless and naive, so they'll try anything. They can spy markets that elders, with their locked-in views, cannot. And without dependents or spouses, twentysomethings can work the sort of pyramid-building hours necessary for a startup. It's a kind of Logan's Run world: If you're ending a third decade, you're obsolete. But hold on. A recent study has finally collected some data on age and high tech innovation and found that older geeks are just as successful as young Turks. What's more, the chronologically advanced are especially successful at solving problems we increasingly — and desperately — need solved. In other words, the high tech future may belong to the over-30 set. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation surveyed 652 US-born CEOs and heads of product development who founded high tech firms in the boom (and bust) years of 1995 to 2005. Both the average and median...Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Recently at Boing Boing Gadgets.
Recently at Boing Boing Gadgets, we saw a promotional thumbdrive full of beer and a tasty motherboard cake. Breakfast is served!
John saw Sega's inadvertant return to gaming "hardware"; a cutting board with an astronaut etched on it; a non-stop spinning top; and hankered for a USB desk lamp in the shape of a giant letter C. Joel discovered the art of Chindōgu, or useful but embarrassing technology; found spaceship-like sculptures made of foam packing; and found an amazing portrait of the Madonna made of dice, and posed the question, "Could you make a better fake rock speaker than Klipsch?" We reviewed the Sorapot, a fancy teapot, the NZXT Avatar gaming mouse, Cloanto's Amiga Forever 2008 retrogaming set, and the last five years.
Looks like Apple's new MacBooks are going to have Nvidia inside. It's such a shame that Mazda's wonderful concept car, the Kiyora, isn't likely to ever have you inside. Console yourself with some vodka kept in bottles the shape of a skull. Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 2:36 am Microsoft Programming Contest Hacked and Defaceddavidmwilliams writes "Microsoft followed their major annual Tech-Ed event in Australia with a week-long programming contest called 'DevSta,' to find 'star developers.' While the quantity and quality of submissions suggest a poor turnout, it certainly caught the attention of at least two hackers who left their mark. Here is the low-down on the contest, what happened, by whom, and screen shots for posterity in case it's been fixed by the time you read this. And unless the volume of submissions increase dramatically within the next few hours, someone may be awarded an Xbox for doing nothing more than rewriting the Windows calculator as a .NET app."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 2:16 am Using Video Games as Bait to Hook ReadersBy Motoko Rich, Reporter, New York Times When PJ Haarsma wrote his first book, a science fiction novel for preteenagers, he didn’t think just about how to describe Orbis, the planetary system where the story takes place. He also thought about how it should look and feel in a video game. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:38 am Small Asteroid On Collision Course With Earthmusatov writes "There's talk on The Minor Planet Mailing List about a small asteroid approaching Earth with a 99.8% probability of colliding. The entrance to the Earth's atmosphere will take place October 7 at 0246 UTC (2:35 after this story goes live) over northern Sudan, releasing the energy of about a kiloton of TNT. The asteroid is assumed to be 3-4 meters in size; it is expected to burn up completely in the atmosphere, causing no harm. As a powerful bolide, it may put on quite a show in the sky. For those advanced enough in astronomy to observe, check the MPEC 2008-T50 and MPEC 2008-T64 circulars. NASA's JPL Small Body Database has a 3D orbit view. The story has been already picked up by CNN and NASA."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:11 am Richard Metzger: Ten years agoIn honor of my dear friend Richard Metzger's stint as a BB guestblogger beginning today, I dug up this link to a Wired interview I did with Richard that was published exactly 10 years ago this month. Wow, time sure flies when we're having fun. From the interview, titled "Live From Bedlam":Wired: Information wants to be free, but does it want to be true?Richard Metzger: Live From Bedlam Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am How to find neighbors who think they are registered but probably aren'tAdam Savage says: "My wife has been working for these folks. I'm passing it on to you in case you're interested. It's sooper inportant. They are non-partisan, btw."Project Vote has now posted online lists of people (with their addresses) who filed registration applications in various counties but who were not put on the voter rolls by election authorities because of alleged or actual deficiencies in their applications.Project Vote 2008 Source: Boing Boing | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:26 pm Enterprise Software Sales Dried Up In SeptemberCurtMonash writes "As I predicted a week ago, it looks as if the third quarter was ugly for software vendors, due to the economic crisis. SAP said 'The market developments of the past several weeks have been dramatic and worrying to many businesses. These concerns triggered a very sudden and unexpected drop in business activity at the end of the quarter.' My old acquaintance John Treadway, who used to work in Sybase's financial services vertical unit, reports that things are even worse than that in the financial services industry, Wall Street and retail banks alike. So now what? Well, IT is a huge part of capital spending, and at enterprises that have to cut back capital spending, IT is going to get hurt. On the other hand, high-growth companies — Web businesses, analytic services providers, etc. — may try to power through the downturn. And the more directly an IT project affects near-term profits, the more likely it is to survive."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:25 pm Guestblogger: Richard Metzger (Tara McGinley, Richard Metzger September 2008. Photo: Coop) Meet our next guestblogger, Richard Metzger. Shortly after I met Richard in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, he launched an amazing web directory of unusual information called disinfo.com. He later went on to produce a television show, a conference, and a book and DVD publishing company under the Disinformation brand. Richard is one of the smartest people I know, and has introduced me to so many obscure but mind-blowing books, movies, and musicians I don't know where to start. He's also directed videos for different bands, including Ann Magnuson's Bongwater. We're thrilled to have him guestblogging on Boing Boing for the next two weeks. Please give a warm welcome to Richard! Greetings Boing Boing readers, it's an honor to be your guest blogger for the next few weeks and it will be fun to share my latest pop culture enthusiasms with everyone! Source: Boing Boing | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:12 pm Trends & Innovations - Monday (Investor's Business Daily)Investor's Business Daily - A new study says video game players are surprisingly fit, countering stereotypes that peg them as overweight couch potatoes. Gamers are 10% leaner than the average American, says the study of 7,000 players by Univ. of Southern Calif. researchers. They also exercise 1-2 times a week, more than the average American. But the study also found gamers have a higher rate of mental health problems. They're 50% more likely to have been diagnosed with depression and have a 20% higher rate of substance addiction.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 6 Oct 2008 | 10:47 pm Malaysian Blogger On Trial For Seditionneonsignal writes "Raja Petra Kamarudin, a Malaysian blogger, is in court under the Internal Security Act, under which he can be detained indefinitely. He is well known for his commentary on the Malaysian government, and was arrested after a piece on the murder of a Mongolian woman, who was allegedly killed by two policeman and an associate of the deputy prime minister."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 6 Oct 2008 | 10:39 pm BBtv: Robert Plant and Allison Krauss interview (music)Hey, speaking of bluegrass... when Led Zeppelin founder Robert Plant teamed up with Nashville mama Allison Krauss, critics compared the musical collaboration to a hookup between King Kong and Bambi. But their album "Raising Sand," produced by T-Bone Burnett, earned the odd duo widespread raves. Boing Boing tv's London music correspondent Russell Porter caught up with Plant and Krauss backstage at the Mercury Prize, an annual award for the best album from the UK or Ireland. Link to Boing Boing tv blog post with downloadable video and daily podcast subscription instructions.
Source: Boing Boing | 6 Oct 2008 | 10:14 pm Photos from the denim distressing factory Photographer David Friedman visited a Kentucky "distressing" factory where skilled laborers expertly age denim for the benefit of high-end designers, and produced a sweet little photos essay of these artisans at work. Photo Essay: The Denim Factory (via Kottke) Source: Boing Boing | 6 Oct 2008 | 10:13 pm Artificial foreskin lets you keep your sensitivity AND the covenant of Abraham!Circumcised? Need a foreskin? Have no fear, Viafin's synthetic turtleneck's got you covered:Welcome to Viafin-Atlas (Thanks, Bill!) Source: Boing Boing | 6 Oct 2008 | 10:11 pm Wall decals based on Toronto subway stations
Derek sez, "We recently produced a line of vinyl wall decals featuring the vintage 1978 modernist designs of the Toronto Subway system." These colors and lettering are permanently etched into my brain from a thousand million rides.
Walloper
(Thanks, Derek!)
Source: Boing Boing | 6 Oct 2008 | 10:08 pm Judge orders RealNetworks to pull copying software (AP)AP - RealNetworks Inc. said Monday it had temporarily stopped distributing its DVD copying software, RealDVD, at a federal judge's request in a copyright case brought by Hollywood studios.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 6 Oct 2008 | 9:59 pm Explorer reports on his first two weeks on Tofua IslandThe Private Islands blog has an update on Xavier Rosset's trip to Tofua Island in the Kingdom of Tonga. (See "Adventurer will live 300 days as Robinson Crusoe") As I reported previously Swiss adventurer, explorer and islomaniac Xavier Rosset has set out on an expedition to spend 300 days living alone on Tofua Island, in the Kingdom of Tonga.Explorer reports on his first two weeks on Tofua Island Source: Boing Boing | 6 Oct 2008 | 9:59 pm Artists Strive To Wrest Rights From Music Industryeldavojohn writes "The funny thing about the RIAA & BPI is that the artists are just as tired as the fans with how online music is being handled. So they're trying something new called the Featured Artists' Coalition. FAC's site states in their charter: 'We believe that all music artistes should control their destiny because ultimately it is their art and endeavors that create the pleasure and emotion enjoyed by so many.' As digital releases are increasing, the artists aren't seeing any more money. With the advent of online distribution, are the traditional music industry functions of promotion, samples, radio, and marketing now nothing but costly overhead for the artists? From Iron Maiden to Kate Nash to Radiohead, some big names are backing this new organization."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 6 Oct 2008 | 9:58 pm Abbey Ryan's painting-a-day blog
I'm an admirer of artists who create a painting a day, and then post them to their blog. Abbey Ryan is one such artist. You can bid on Abbey's work on eBay. The painting above, "Fortune Cookie No. 2," (Oil on linen on panel, 5 x 6 in.) has a current high bid of $99.
A Painting a Day by Abbey Ryan
Source: Boing Boing | 6 Oct 2008 | 9:29 pm SAP says business turmoil hurting its revenue (AP)AP - Shares of SAP AG plunged Monday after the business software maker said it saw a sudden drop in business at the end of September as global financial turmoil escalated.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 6 Oct 2008 | 9:29 pm EBay cutting 1,600 jobs, 10 percent of work force (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 6 Oct 2008 | 9:14 pm NSA Open Sources Tokeneer Research ProjectAn anonymous reader writes to mention that the Tokeneer research project has been released to the open source community by the US National Security Agency. The main goal of this project was to show how highly secure software can be developed cost-effectively. "Tokeneer has been written in SPARK Ada, a high level programming language designed for high-assurance applications. Originally a subset of the Ada language, it is designed in such a way that all SPARK programs are legal Ada programs. Ada is the natural choice for mission-critical, high-integrity systems due to its combination of flexibility, reliability and ease of use, and SPARK further adds a static verification toolset that combines depth, soundness, efficiency and formal guarantees."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 6 Oct 2008 | 9:14 pm Tech Stocks Off the Deep End: But Ignore the Panic
Just as there is a tendency to inanely cheerlead the tech sector valuations on the way up, there is inevitably the equally ridiculous overreaction to the downward slide going on right now for digital companies. Thus, while by no means the weakest sector of the economy, a range of tech stocks got hammered today in the markets, getting dragged down with the market at large as investors continued to fret about a sustained worldwide recession that government bailouts could not prevent. Consider, after a week of getting socked, even more blows: Yahoo (YHOO) closed at $15.19, down about 5 percent or 81 cents. Google (GOOG) closed at $369.37, down just under 5 percent or $17.54. Microsoft (MSFT) closed at $24.91, down 5.4 percent or $1.41. eBay (EBAY) closed at $17.89, down 5.5 percent or $1.05. Interestingly, the company with the most consumer exposure, Apple (AAPL), fell below $90, before closing at $98.14, up 1.1 percent or $1.07. Now, there’s no question some of this tech carnage was due to the sector riding higher than most and worries about future results. Analysts are cutting estimates across the industry, in anticipation of weaker advertising and international markets. At this point, as much as BoomTown has warned about the impact of the financial crisis on Silicon Valley, the meltdown in tech shares is beginning to feel a little undeserved and overdone. After all, does anyone doubt most advertising will move online? Or that tech will not continue to permeate all sectors of our society and economy in the decades ahead? Or that digital companies, for all their fattening up of late, are not the most adept at adapting themselves to leaner times? After all, everyone in tech did learn a thing or two from the bursting of the last bubble, which was entirely appropriate. This time, while the industry had begun to party like it was 1999, the more recent expansion–aside from the lofty valuations for start-ups–was done in a way that will make it much easier to cut back. I kind of feel like I might be channeling Chip Diller, the annoying ROTC cadet in “Animal House” (played by Kevin Bacon), with his famous line, “All is well, remain calm,” even as all hell was breaking loose around him (see video below). But with a little rejiggering, it’s still the right prescription for the months ahead. In the short term, all is not well. Nonetheless: Remain calm. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 6 Oct 2008 | 9:13 pm iPhone 3G Entices Mobile-Carrier Defections (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - The NPD Group, a market-research firm, reports that 30 percent of the U.S. consumers who purchased Apple's iPhone 3G from its release on July 11 through August switched mobile carriers in order to join AT&T, which holds exclusive U.S. sales rights for the red-hot device.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 6 Oct 2008 | 9:01 pm Meteoroid Predicted to Burn Up in Earth's Atmosphere TonightA small meteoroid is predicted to burn up in Earth's atmosphere over Sudan tonight. This is the first time astronomers have been able to predict when a meteoroid will enter the atmosphere.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 6 Oct 2008 | 8:57 pm Facebook co-founder leaves for new venture (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 6 Oct 2008 | 8:45 pm Double-Take Shrs Plunge On Q3 WarningBy Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily Double-Take Software (DBTK) shares fell sharply after the company earlier today said third quarter results would come in shy of previous guidance. The company now sees revenue of $23.8 million to $24 million, below its previous view of $25.7 million to $26.3 million. Double-Take sees non-GAAP profits of 14-15 cents a share, down from its previous guidance of 15-16 cents. “In the latter part of September customers delayed closings on a number of expected deals in both Europe and in the American regions.” Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 6 Oct 2008 | 8:37 pm Judge's Secret Decision Blocks Sale of DVD-Copying SoftwareA federal judge seals a decision tentatively blocking RealNetwork's sale of DVD-copying software.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 6 Oct 2008 | 7:42 pm Goliath Beats Davids for Pentagon Power PrizeThe Pentagon set up a million-dollar prize to get entrepreneurs and tinkerers to come up with radically new ways to supply power to the all those gadgets a soldier has to lug around. But the winner, the Pentagon declared today, is as traditional as it comes: DuPont, the chemical giant -- and military supplier, since 1802.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 6 Oct 2008 | 7:25 pm Nature 'Soundscapes' Get Record DealA new audio clearinghouse features "ambient soundscapes" from the American West.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Oct 2008 | 7:20 pm SLIDE SHOW: Threatened MammalsA look at some of the 16,928 mammals that a new report says are at risk.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Oct 2008 | 6:07 pm SAP: “Very Sudden and Unexpected Drop” in Business Pressuring Enterprise IT StocksBy Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily Adding fuel to the raging fire on which stock valuations are now burning, SAP (SAP) co-CEO Henning Kagermann this morning warned in a statement that market developments of the last few weeks have been “dramatic and worrying to many businesses,” which has triggered a “very sudden and expected drop in business activity” late in the company’s third quarter. “Throughout the third quarter we felt quite positive about our ability to meet our expectations,” he said. “Unfortunately, SAP was not immune from the economic and financial crisis that has enveloped the markets in the second half of September, causing us to report numbers below our expectations.” Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 6 Oct 2008 | 6:04 pm Register to Vote Before Deadlines–Or Jessica Alba Will Muzzle You
One of the more interesting developments of this election cycle has been the boom in viral online videos being used–from a plethora of political spoofs of the candidates to educational videos to people simply venting. And those pushing citizens, especially young people, to register to vote have been using the boom in online video too. Last week, BoomTown featured one effort by a passel of celebrities to snarkily get people to vote by telling them not to (but not really). This week, actress Jessica Alba turns into a Home Shopping Network maniac by hawking “The Muzzler,” for those who don’t vote. It’s a lot over the top–including featuring a pink muzzle on indestructible “Heroes” cheerleader Hayden Panettiere. But it does get the point through like a sledge hammer that it is important to vote in the Nov. 4 election. Alba has already posed for several shocking pictures for the group doing the video–Declare Yourself, a national nonpartisan group dedicated to getting young people to vote–including wearing a muzzle and being bound by electric tape. So, whoever you plan to vote for, here is a list of deadlines to register to vote in the 50 states, with many being today and the rest of this week. And, here’s the Muzzler video: Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 6 Oct 2008 | 4:37 pm Old Ships Provide Portable Water SourceScientists have a new idea for desalination where you need it: old ships.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Oct 2008 | 2:55 pm Depressed Astronaut: Heal ThyselfSelf-guided treatment for depression could soon be only a mouse-click away.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Oct 2008 | 1:49 pm Lincoln's Anger Revealed in Civil War LetterA previously unknown letter written by Abraham Lincoln reveals rare anger.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Oct 2008 | 1:49 pm Sega Getting Back into the Hardware GameAccording to the Register, Sega plans to launch a new handheld console next year, and it won't just play games. The new console, called the Vision, will also play music and movies, have a built in camera, TV-Tuner and display e-books. We speculate that the battery pack will come in a separate, suitcase-sized box.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:29 am
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Being circumcised affects the natural operation, appearance and sensitivity of the penis. During recent years much medical research has been carried out in several countries into the function and purpose of the foreskin. There is now conclusive medical evidence that a circumcised penis with the glans exposed has less nerve receptors and is less effective than a naturally covered penis.
