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Eat Better Lunch Boxes - The Nutrition Pyramid(TrendHunter.com) Beijing based designer Li Jianye clearly remembered the nutritional lessons learned at school. For balanced meals, the proportion of meat to vegetables to carbohydrates for energy...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 2:19 pm Celebrating Female Entertainment - Women in Hollywood 2008 (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, Eva Mendes and dozens of other female Hollywood stars and musicians gathered at Elle magazines 15th annual Women in Hollywood tribute to honor seven noteworthy...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 1:32 pm Credit Crisis Signs - National Debt Clock Runs Out of Space (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) From AIG and Wachovia to WaMu, we all knew that the economy is in bad shape. But you know things with the economy are going really really bad when the national debt clock maxes out...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 12:59 pm Killer Ice Cubes - The AK 47 Bullet Ice Cube Tray (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) If you make killer drinks for parties then youve got to get the AK ice tray to make killer ice cubes to go with them. The ice cubes it makes looks very like the bullets from a AK 47...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 12:39 pm Red Hat boosts open source SOA (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - Red Hat is expanding its open-source JBoss SOA platform with the unveiling Wednesday of JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform 4.3 and JBoss Operations Network 2.1.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Oct 2008 | 12:00 pm BlackBerry Storm has touch screen you can feel (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:43 am Messenger delivers more Mercury postcards - Register
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:34 am The Illness, the Medicine, and the Other ShoreI'm not saying anything readers of this site don't feel viscerally, but what incredible times. Absolutely astounding. Tuesday's carnage on Wall Street after Monday's mess ... to see Iceland teetering on...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:09 am Ford Announces Family-Friendly Safety Features - Wired News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:06 am Ophelia's Gaze: What's the Real Value in Virtual Jewelry?Exclusive to NWN, Iris Ophelia's ongoing showcase of all things stylish in SL It seems like expo season is lasting forever this year, which means it's prime time for shopaholic fashionistas. I considered...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:05 am 'Glowing' jellyfish grabs Nobel - BBC News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:03 am Thetus to Present at Burton Group Catalyst ConferencePORTLAND, Ore. and PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Thetus Corporation CEO Danielle Forsyth and CTO Roy Hall will present at Burton Group's Catalyst...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am BIO-key(R) Biometric Identification Solution Deployed by McKessonDispensing Solution Incorporating Biometrics Will Ensure Safe, Secure and Convenient Access to Patient Medications WALL, N.J., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- BIO-key...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Harris Corporation Names Leadership Team to Head New and Existing Business Units within RF Communications DivisionNew Business Unit Created to Address Growing Government and Public Safety Market ROCHESTER, N.Y., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS), an...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am CEVA, Inc. Schedules Third Quarter 2008 Earnings Release and Conference CallSAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CEVA, Inc. [(Nasdaq: CEVA); (LSE: CVA)], a leading licensor of silicon intellectual property (SIP) DSP cores and...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Extreme Networks Schedules Financial Results Conference CallSANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Extreme Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXTR) today announced that it plans to release the financial results of its 2009...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am 43 Deaths by Chocolate - Unique Ways to Indulge (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) Chocoholics rejoice! There are so many ways to indulge in your favorite candy and not just at Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day or Easter either. There are luxury personalized...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:59 am Disasters kill more in 2008 than in tsunami: UNMore people died from natural disasters in the first six months of 2008 than in the Asian tsunami of 2004 due mainly to the earthquake in China and cyclone in Myanmar, the United Nations...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:57 am Fuwei Films Announces Final Results of the Anti-Dumping Investigation Conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce-- Lowest Anti-Dumping Duty Rates Received Among BOPET Film Makers in China and Other Three Countries -- BEIJING, Oct. 8 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fuwei Films...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:52 am Why iPhones are just like German tanksYou'll have noticed the PDA blog's report about the latest estimates of how many iPhones have been sold - a solid 9.1m and counting.But you might have wondered how the process of simply asking people for...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:41 am BlackBerry Storms Verizon Wireless and Vodafone Networks - PC World
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:31 am Quantm Releases Version 6.0MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantm Pty. Ltd., a Trimble company and a leader in transportation route optimization, today announced the release of VersionSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:30 am Mattson Technology Announces Availability of Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results and WebcastFREMONT, Calif., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- href="http://www.mattson.com">Mattson Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MTSN), a leading supplier of advanced process...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:30 am Rainmaker Expands Lead Development Solution for Existing Fortune 500 Global Payments and Travel ClientCAMPBELL, Calif., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rainmaker Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMKR), a leading provider of sales and marketing solutions combining hosted...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:30 am Biggest Enemy Of Linux Netbooks Isn't Windows - It's Expectations - InformationWeek
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:18 am HP to give printing power to MySpace users - Yahoo! Tech
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:10 am Handmade Classic Nintendo DS CasesThis post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net Alright, now this is how you make a case for gamers. The knitted case I wrote up at the very beginning of the month was an example of a case...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:07 am Analog Digital Photo Frame Earns A Double-TakeBy Luke Anderson To be perfectly honest, I still haven’t jumped on the digital picture frame bandwagon. You’d think that as a geek I’d have gotten myself one long ago, however, I really...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:01 am Watching Animals Get Busy - The Santa Fe Zoo's Naughty Ad (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) In order to promote their guided night tours, Santa Fe Zoo collaborated with TBWA Colombia on this fun print ad. The ad shows an old lady gasping with surprise and shock with the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 10:00 am Google introduces YouTube click-to-buy - CNET News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 9:44 am DMCA Exemption Timejvillain writes "Contentagenda notes that the Copyright Office is taking submissions for exemptions to the DMCA. They do this every three years. There's a description of the six exemptions made last time to give you some ideas. So fire up the keyboard and let the Copyright Office know what needs to be changed. If you don't get in now, it'll be another three years before you can try again."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Oct 2008 | 9:39 am Fertile women raise their voice pitchStudy links voice changes to ovulation and suggests human behaviour is similar to other animals in displaying signs of fertilitySource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 9:21 am Simon Underdown: Human evolution won't stop just because the gene pool is limitedSimon Underdown: I disagree with Johnjoe McFadden's criticisms of Steve Jones, but genetics are not the only factor in our species' survivalSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 9:00 am Melamine is Called OK in Tiny AmountsEating a tiny bit of a melamine, the chemical responsible for a global food safety scare, is not harmful -- except when it's in baby formula, U.S. food safety officials said yesterday.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Bacteria Found in Compost Could Be a Boost for Ethanol ProductionBy Anonymous At the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting in early September, held at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, researchers from Guildford, United Kingdom (UK) announced successful development of a bacteria strain that can break down organic wastes into ethanol.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Google's 'Mail Goggles' Helps Avoid Embarrassing E-mails - InformationWeek
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Composting on Maui Hits Its StrideBy Trojak, Larry EKO Compost is processing 35,000 tons/year of green waste, along with municipal bio solids and fats, oils and grease.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am University Composting Program Created By Graduate StudentBy Anonymous Columbia, Missouri Missouri University (MU) graduate student Adam Saunders started a 10-week composting program as a part of a service learning class.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Coast Guard Holds Torrance Beach Drills TodayHelicopters will swarm over the ocean as U.S. Coast Guard officers storm Torrance beach today. But don't be alarmed. The Coast Guard is conducting its annual "wet drills," training that allows crews to experience the conditions they might encounter in a survival situation at sea.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Food Composting InfrastructureBy Olivares, Cristina Goldstein, Nora BIOCYCLE NATIONAL SURVEY: NORTHEAST, MID-ATLANTIC Second installment of BioCyde National Survey reports on food waste composting facilities and projects in the Northeast and Mid- Atlantic states.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am New Online Courses on CompostingBy Anonymous The Professional Recyclera Of Pennsylvania (PROP) offers three online courses on composting and recycling, with Continuing Education Credits granted through Penn State University.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Hospitality Company Serves Up SustainabilityBy Yepsen, Rhodes THINK GLOBAL, ACT REGIONAL Regional company with about 200 restaurants and catering operations actively promotes sustainability, increasing local food purchasing, composting and waste reduction.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am From the NurseryBy Adlam, John Whitefly With predators, add Majestik, Nemolt, SB Plant Invigorator and Mycotal into your integrated pest management programme. Mycotal is a useful control product especially in humidity levels above 80 per cent under protection.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Zero Waste Brew Fest Achieves 80 Percent Diversion RateBy Anonymous Oak Paric, Illinois The Oak Park Microbrew and Food Review, which attracted over 500 attendees on August 23, achieved an 80 percent diversion rate through composting and recycling.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Comark Corporation Announces 42-In. Marine LCD With Optional Touch and Integrated PCBy Anonymous Comark Corporation has expanded its portfolio of large LCD products by announcing availability of a 42-in. LCD with integral computer and touchscreen options targeted to the marine and military markets. The MDU-42 is a 42-in.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Small but Powerful Antenna Extends Wi-Fi RangeBy Anonymous The convenience to "connect anywhere" afforded by Wi-Fi does not have to be left on land. Shakespeare Electronic Products Group's new Galaxy Style 5248 Wi-Fi Antenna helps extend the range of laptops and other Wi-Fi enabled devices that can be connected to external antennas.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Baidu Aims at Alibaba With E-Commerce SiteBy Davis, Anita BEIJING Chinese search engine Baidu has begun closed beta tests of an e-commerce site that the company hopes will directly rival market powerhouse Alibaba.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Watch the Presidential Debate LiveThe Press-Telegram will be streaming tonight's presidential debate between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain live beginning at 6 p.m. The live stream only works with the Internet Explorer Web browser.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Google's Goggles Help You Avoid 'Tipsy Typing' FolliesIt's Friday night, and what began as a happy-hour margarita morphed into a few pitchers. After all, those tacos were salty. Bidding friends adieu, you jump in a cab, head home and decide a quick e-mail check is in order. And there it is: a message from your ex. Or your boss.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Data PointsBy Anonymous 22 Percentage of HR executives who said their firm blocks access to social networking Web sites, such as Linkedln and MySpace. 8 Percentage of HR executives who said their firm encourages employees to use such sites.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Identifying the Value of Advertising NetworksBy Hoare, Michael Ad networks are hard to define properly and those promoting them have muddied the waters with confusing jargon. It's no wonder that marketers are confused and wondering how best to allocate adspend.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am First RespondersBy Palser, Barb Citizen media's agility during the Iowa floods offers a lesson to traditional journalists. On Friday, June 13, Denise Clark drove to an emergency shelter in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to find out how she could help her flooding community.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Search Engines in Pre-Natal Sex Ad StrifeBy Fitzsimmons, Ella MUMBAI Search engines in India have found themselves under pressure from social activists claiming that their sites profit from pre-natal sex selection ads. Google, Yahoo and MSN have all been named in the complaint put forward to India's Supreme Court.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am American Airlines Adds Internet Porn FilterFORT WORTH, Texas - American Airlines says it will filter an in- flight Internet service to block pornography sites, reversing course after complaints from flight attendants and passengers.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am What the Combined Yahoo-AOL Might Look Like, As Talks Drag On–Oops–Heat Up!
As has been copiously reported here and all over, Yahoo and AOL have been engaged in never-ending talks about a possible deal to merge their flagging Internet businesses. Now, sources tell me, the circle of executives at both companies interfacing with each other has been widened, for purposes of due diligence. That includes Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who is indeed in New York this week–where AOL parent, Time Warner, is located–to meet once again with its CEO Jeff Bewkes and see if they can actually complete the merger. Now, all this frantic activity does not mean a deal will necessarily be struck. But it is this kind of ramped-up blabbery that has many at both companies predicting that a deal will go through, sooner or later, as soon as Time Warner and Yahoo can agree on a price. Or, more precisely, a percentage, since Yahoo’s stock price has been falling like a particularly sharp knife of late. Sources said Yahoo does not want Time Warner (TWX) to have any more than 25 percent of the new company in a trade for AOL’s assets–although that figure would be slightly more if the media giant throws in some of that “Harry Potter”-generated cash into the deal kitty. Yahoo (YHOO) management, sources said, also think its assets are of significantly better quality than AOL’s, and it still has that powerful–although declining–share in the lucrative search market. Thus, it does not want to pay the $8 to $10 billion price Time Warner wants, and it should not either. (Here is a good analysis on the price issue by Silicon Alley Insider’s Henry Blodget.) But Yahoo shares closed yesterday at a troubling $14.58, down 73 cents or almost five percent. That means its market valuation also declined by many billion dollars very quickly. It is now at $20.2 billion. These profound stock drops, said several sources, could spur Yahoo to act before it gets even worse, which is why talks have been more frequent in recent weeks. While not the best state of mind, panic is always a good motivator and both companies are surely desperate to turbocharge themselves in the face of tough competition and avoidable management mishaps in recent years. The hope? That together the pair can do better than they have separately–by combining their advertising, content and communications assets, which are among the largest in the world. In addition, the “new” Yahoo would be able to make massive cost cuts, including layoffs, under the cover of integration and starting off with a clean slate. So who would emerge more powerful in a new set-up–AOL or Yahoo? Here’s a short cheat list: Content:
AOL and Yahoo have a similar range of content assets, with big sites in all the classic categories like news, financial, sports and lifestyles. Yahoo’s content head is Scott Moore, while AOL’s is headed up by Bill Wilson (both pictured here, left to right). As I wrote yesterday, I expect that the more dominant Yahoo will rule, slashing and burning 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 while former Microsoftie Moore is the likely head of this behemoth, don’t count the very adept Wilson, who is known as a skilled corporate player at AOL, to stick around with a big role in this arena. Communications: Again, advantage Yahoo, which has bigger calendaring, email and instant messaging assets, an area once overwhelmingly dominated by AOL. That was then, of course. Still, AOL’s communications tools are used by a huge audience worldwide and the pair together would be a powerhouse. So much so, in fact, that this might be the one major regulatory hurdle any deal would face. Advertising:
Again, Yahoo would probably dominate, having just hired well-known former Microsoft exec Joanne Bradford to head up U.S. advertising sales. AOL’s top ad exec is Lynda Clarizio, a former lawyer who is considered dogged but much less experienced than Bradford. (Both are pictured here, right to left.) And, Yahoo does have its search ad business, however weakening, and a stronger graphical ad business, even if the sector will be most under siege in the current down economy. Plus, AOL’s Advertising.com, while a major ad network, is more of a business subject to bruising competition and squeezed margins. Community:
Tapan Bhat (pictured here) now rules community at Yahoo, as well as its home page, having just inherited it from the departing Brad Garlinghouse.
But AOL has a savvy and voluble exec in Joanna Shields, who came recently via its Bebo social networking acquisition. While AOL woefully overpaid for Bebo and got played into thinking that other bidders were more interested than they actually were, it was Shields (pictured here) who essentially did that playing. Sign her up for a top exec role in the combined company pronto! In all seriousness, there is room for both in the newco, as both AOL and Yahoo seriously bite in the social networking space. They will surely need a lot more than Bhat and Shields, if they want to become true players in Web 2.0’s hottest and probably most important trend. Engineering: Yahoo. I do not need to explain this, do I? Okay: AOL has always been incompetent in the technical arena, since its beginning days, compared to Silicon Valley companies like Yahoo. All yours, Ash Patel! Management: Now, it is here that it gets interesting. Most feel the push by Yang to do an AOL deal–and make no mistake, it is being pushed by him most of all–is due to increased pressure from his board, as well as major investors, who have had just about enough of his leadership.
“There is no way Jerry stays on as CEO in a newco,” said one source about Yang (pictured here). “He’ll be kicked upstairs as chairman and I will think [President Sue] Decker will also have to go eventually, since there will be a lot of resistance if she is named CEO.” But, said other sources, these major management changes will not happen immediately, if at all, as it is too distracting in the wake of a deal and ruins the positive “story” that both companies will surely want to spin. And spin they will! (Go, Tricia! Go, Jill!)
And while he has a reputation for sharkish political skills, especially compared to Yahoo’s very diplomatic U.S. head Hilary Schneider, expect AOL President Ron Grant to be an important part of the transition, since he is good–almost too good–at cutting costs. Most expect his boss, AOL CEO Randy Falco, not to be part of the new company, thereby separating him and Grant, who are nicknamed “Smithers and Burns” at AOL, after “The Simpsons” creepy duo. Most likely, there will be a search for a top-level CEO to take over the combined company–someone of the stature of New Corp.’s #2 Peter Chernin or eBay’s former leader Meg Whitman (except now, she is apparently Sen. John McCain’s pick for Treasury Secretary, if the Republican Presidential candidate were to win the election). “If this has any chance of working out, the board has to push restart on the leadership,” said one person close to the situation, who notes that this deal is Yang’s last chance to truly impact the future of the company he co-founded and preserve its legacy. “Everyone gets that, even Jerry.” Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:40 am Where's the "IronPerl" Project?pondlife writes "A friend asked me today about using some Microsoft server components from Perl. Over the years he's built up a large collection of Perl/COM code using Win32::OLE and he had planned on doing the same thing here. The big problem is that as with many current MS APIs, they're available for .NET only because COM is effectively deprecated at this point. I did some Googling, expecting to find quickly the Perl equivalent of IronPython or IronRuby. But to my surprise I found almost nothing. ActiveState has PerlNET, but there's almost no information about it, and the mailing list 'activity' suggests it's dead or dying anyway. So, what are Perl/Windows shops doing now that more and more Microsoft components are .NET? Are people moving to other languages for Windows administration? Are they writing wrappers using COM interop? Or have I completely missed something out there that solves this problem?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:05 am What To Look For NextBy Fred Wilson, Principal, Union Square Ventures The Treasury, the Fed, and Warren Buffet have been the only buyers in this meltdown and have been largely focused on financial companies. Meanwhile the rest of the market has gone down 30% year to date and very few, if any, stocks have been spared. What do we look for next? Does the market just keep going down endlessly? What will bring this to an end? Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:01 am Realism Creeping Into Venture Capital CalculationsBy Rafe Needleman, Chief Blogger, Webware The opening party of Boston-based Northbridge Venture Partners’ West Coast office in San Mateo, CA could not have come at a more awkward time. With the U.S. stock market sinking fast and rumors of venture capitalists being unable to access funds committed to them, I did not expect the shindig to be a happy affair. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Apple’s Brick: A Radical New Laptop?By Arik Hesseldahl, Technology Writer, BusinessWeek When they’re not hand-wringing over the recent drop in Apple’s share price, Mac enthusiasts have been transfixed lately by the mystery product, code-named “brick,” that’s due for release later this month. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Capitalism to the RescueBy Jon Gertner, Contributing Writer, New York times One afternoon last May in Menlo Park, Calif., a venture capitalist named Ray Lane led me from his office to the parking lot, where an automobile had been delivered a few hours earlier by flatbed truck. The car, built in Norway, was powered by batteries and had a plug-in outlet hidden under a flip-top cover near the driver-side door. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am The Expansion of IgnoranceBy Kevin Kelly, Founding Executive Editor, Wired The fastest growing entity today is information. Information is expanding ten times faster than the growth of any other manufactured or natural product on this planet. According to a calculation Hal Varian, an economist at Google, and I made, world-wide information has been increasing at the rate of 66% per year for many decades. Compare that explosion to the rate of increase in even the most prolific manufactured stuff – like concrete, or paper — which averages only 7% annually over decades. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Whoops. False Positive. Sorry ’Bout That … Heh Heh.
In a 352-page report published Tuesday, the National Research Council said data mining and behavior detection aren’t nearly as useful as their proponents claim. In fact, they’re of dubious scientific merit and have “enormous potential” for infringing on law-abiding Americans’ privacy. “Automated identification of terrorists through data mining (or any other known methodology) is neither feasible as an objective nor desirable as a goal of technology development efforts,” the Council found. “Even in well-managed programs, such tools are likely to return significant rates of false positives, especially if the tools are highly automated.” While not an explicit condemnation of the techniques at issue here, the report does recommend that the government evaluate the effectiveness and lawfulness of these data mining and behavior-detection programs it’s so keen on before implementing them, and periodically thereafter. Said the Council, “History demonstrates that measures taken in the name of improving national security, especially in response to new threats or crises, have often proven to be both ineffective and offensive to the nation’s values and traditions of liberty and justice.” Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am U.S. scientist, two in Japan share Nobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel goes to Yoichiro Nambu of Chicago and Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa of Japan, who made strides in the study of a phenomenon called broken symmetry. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Growth in revenue from online advertising slowsA 15.2% increase in the first half of 2008 pales compared with previous years. There's one thing that can be said...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Government use of biometrics still raises privacy concerns (CNET)CNET - WASHINGTON--Is the idea of widespread biometric data collection still too spooky to win over the American public?Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Plunge in markets brings another kind of depressionPorter Ranch murder-suicide is an extreme example of the stresses gripping the American psyche, experts say. Mental health professionals say referrals have soared. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Vodafone aims to take Christmas market by stormVodafone will today put pressure on Apple's iPhone with news that it has clinched an exclusive deal to offer the first touchscreen phone made by mobile email specialist BlackBerry in time for Christmas...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 6:27 am Cylinder Solar Panels Generate More Energy For Less Cost - Gizmodo
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 5:44 am BlackBerry Storm has touch screen you can feelResearch in Motion Ltd. , maker of the BlackBerry, is taking on Apple Inc. with a touch-screen phone that puts a new twist on the technology.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:45 am Prevent Gmail From Emailing Under the Influencemikesd81 writes "Google has developed 'Mail Goggles,' a Gmail add-on that makes sending email from Gmail more difficult during certain times (which you can set). If you have Mail Goggles installed, it will force you to answer a series of math questions before sending out any new messages. You can adjust the math difficulty and times this option is in effect. If you get any of the questions wrong, Mail Goggles will say, 'Water and bed for you. Or try again.' Of course, if you set the math settings too high, you may have a tough time solving some of those problems in under 60 seconds, even when sober. Then again, if you're sober, you could just turn Mail Goggles off and hit send on that impassioned letter to your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend or that flame to your boss."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:29 am Google gets into video games -- with adsGoogle Inc., the leader in online search and advertising, is muscling in on video game territory -- though it won't exactly be in the form of a shoot 'em up game.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:11 am Google gets into video games with ads (AP)AP - Google Inc., the leader in online search and advertising, is muscling in on video game territory though it won't exactly be in the form of a shoot 'em up game.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:06 am Review: Hands on with the BlackBerry StormFirst an admission. I have never been a fan of BlackBerry devices. Maybe that's partly because management have never found me worthy of one, but it's mostly because they have always felt 'plasticky' to...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:05 am Yahoo’s Scott Dietzen Speaks About Its New Online Calendar (Which Is About a Decade Late!)
In its ongoing renovation of its offerings–last month it began rolling out a new homepage–Yahoo is unveiling a new online calendar, with a passel of new bells and whistles, to a small group of users worldwide. At first, the beta–current users can register to try it here–will take place in the United States, Brazil, India, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Overall, it is a good-looking, simple and clean design–which will eventually be extended to all of Yahoo’s 8.1 million calendar users worldwide. It is also Yahoo’s first attempt at leveraging and integrating technology from its $350 million acquisition of open-source email and calendaring company Zimbra just over a year ago. And, incredibly, although Yahoo’s is the top online calendar in the world, it has also been 10 years since the Internet giant has updated it. That lack of innovation has resulted in major inroads in recent years made by newer entrants like Google, whose calendar launched with more modern features like color-coding, easy sharing and drag-and-drop functionality. With its renovation, which is based on open standards, the updated calendar from Yahoo (YHOO) now has these kinds of features and also works more seamlessly with Yahoo’s powerful email product, Yahoo! Mail, which has 278 million users. The new Yahoo calendar is built on the Zimbra platform, which uses Ajax functionality in its online calendars and iCalendar (iCal) and CalDAV3 standards. That makes it interoperable with other online calendar services including those from Mozilla, Apple, Microsoft, Time Warner’s AOL and Google. One of the cooler features is the ability to zoom-in and zoom-out from a monthly wall calendar view to a single event. In addition, Yahoo’s new calendar can also integrate pictures from its Flickr photo community and also has a “to-do” list. As the beta is rolled out further in the coming months, Yahoo will add in additional syncing and event discovery features. I talked about all this today with Yahoo SVP Scott Dietzen, who came to the company from the Zimbra acquisition and now is in charge of all communications products at Yahoo. Here is the video interview I did with him: And here are the screenshots of the new calendar, along with one of the old calendar, for comparison (click on images to make them larger): The old main Yahoo calendar
The new main Yahoo calendar
The “zoom” feature
The integration with Flickr
The Upcoming.org integration
Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am 'Clickjackers' could hijack Webcams, microphones, Adobe warns - Computerworld
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Gallery: More Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Spaceships: Image: Mihai Panaitescu Space is vast, and so is the fantasy fleet of futuristic vessels that could be used to survey galaxies and engage in interstellar battles. Typically left to the imaginations of writers and moviemakers, concept ships are being dreamed up by designers and illustrators with a taste for science fiction's endless possibilities. Found on conceptships.org, a website run by Igor Tkac, these nine wildly inventive vehicles supplement Wired.com's earlier gallery of sci-fi-inspired concept ships. Left: Car designer Mihai Panaitescu cranked out this spiky, metallic craft with a futuristic pirate ship in mind. Part of a larger fleet, its inhabitants would be rogue scavengers, scouring remote planets for valuable materials like energy resources and selling them for profit. Built from junkyard parts, the ship would be able to swiftly divide in half for ease of travel -- and quick getaways. "I do these images for relaxation between vehicle projects," said Panaitescu. "I always admired concept artists and their freedom of thought, freedom which is usually restrained in a car design studio." See more of Panaitescu's work. : Image: Gonzalo Golpe Freelance designer Gonzalo Golpe imagined this subterranean craft navigating deep within Earth's oceans as an underwater exploration vehicle that could be deployed in the event of an emergency. Golpe envisioned his craft being made of sustainable materials and possibly salvaged parts. See more of...Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am The Cold, Hard Data of Soda IceDepending on whom you ask, either ice-fiends are suckers who pay for frozen water or ice-avoiders are cheapskates with a perverse attachment to warm fountain syrup. To settle this once and for all, we went to a local cineplex and bought three Cokes with varying amounts of cubes at 4 smackaroos each. Then we broke out our thermometers and measuring cups. The cold, hard data says it all. .headerDivOuter {width:250px;clear:both;float:left;margin-right:12px;} .headerDiv {padding:6px;color:#fff;background-color:#000} .headerDiv2 {color:#A3A3A3} .nImg {clear:left;display:block;float:left;margin-right:12px;margin-bottom:18px;} .nTable {width:300px;} .nTable td {border-bottom:solid 2px #000;padding-top:4px;padding-bottom:4px;} .n_cont {margin-bottom:26px;} No Ice, Please Temperature 40° F Volume of Liquid 31 oz Cost per Degree of Chilling N/A Total Cost for Cold 0¢ Verdict Not fridge-frosty, but at 40 degrees you can't call it tepid. Easy On The Cubes. Temperature 36° F Volume of Liquid 28 oz Cost per Degree of Chilling 9.8¢ Total Cost for Cold 39¢ Verdict Sacrifice just 3 ounces of fizzy corn syrup for a nice, nippy temp. Sweet. Ice,...Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Steven Levy: Why the iPhone Is Almost PerfectMy first full day with the iPhone 3G turned out to be too full. At least as far as the iPhone was concerned. It was just two in the afternoon when the screen displayed the most unwelcome dialog box in mobile computing: low battery: 20% of battery remaining. In my experience, that message's real meaning is make your last call NOW, because the lights are going out soon. Though it didn't happen instantly, within a few minutes that gorgeous screen looked like the closing shot of the The Sopranos finale. I had been enjoying the iPhone 3G. The out-of-the-box price was right — as low as $200, with a two-year contract — if you qualify for the subsidy from AT&T. It was slimmer and sleeker than its predecessor. It had real GPS. And, addressing my biggest problem with the original iPhone, data loaded much faster when a 3G network was available. Most of all, I was itching to try out loads of the intriguing applications from the iTunes App Store, about a dozen of which I'd already downloaded. But there's no joy in a juiceless phone. How bad is the problem? No way around it — 3G cellular chips eat energy. But Apple's Bob Borchers contends that the iPhone team succeeded in extending battery life to an acceptable level. There's evidence to back this up: The iPhone does best its 3G rivals when it comes to run time. Nonetheless, battery life is more of a challenge for the iPhone than for its competitors, because Apple's multitouch darling entices you to actually...Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Alt Text: Bold Confessions of a Nerd-Party CandidateAs the Guys Who Can't Stop Talking About Warcraft Party candidate for president of the United States, I am subject to irksome levels of scrutiny. My critics say I have not been properly vetted. Even though most of them think "vetted" means "examined by an animal doctor," I feel it's important to answer their charges so that you, America, know who I am, what I stand for and where I bathe. It is true that I have been cordial with a former domestic terrorist and political radical. I was 8 years old when he committed his crimes, and so was he. My contact with him was limited to working together on the school play, the occasional game of four square and admiring his Evel Knievel wind-up stunt bike. I did not know that he was plotting attacks on the Pentagon and Toys 'R' Us in his spare time, and I still don't. I'm like a goldfish that way; I turn around and, whoop, it's a blank slate. Alt Text Podcast Download audio files and subscribe to the Alt Text podcast. It is true that my youngest child is not mine, and is in fact my daughter's. Actually, none of my supposed children are mine. They're all my daughter's, including those older than her. And herself. She's a naughty girl. It is true that I was involved in a bribery scandal. However, I have been exonerated twice: I have been exonerated of the original crime, and then exonerated of bribing the panel that exonerated me. Charges that I bribed the second panel to exonerate me of bribing the first panel to exonerate...Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Oct. 8, 1582: Nothing Happens ... in Catholic Lands1582: Nobody does anything, anything at all. In fact, nobody does anything whatsoever between Oct. 4 and Oct. 15, 1582, because the 10 intervening days have simply been declared out of existence by the pope. (This offer may not apply outside Italy, Spain and Portugal.) Where did those days go? By the mid-1570s, the Julian Calendar established in 45 B.C. was 10 days behind the real seasons of the year. The spring equinox was actually occurring on March 12 or thereabouts, and Easter (set by a formula based on an arbitrary March 22 equinox date) was falling too late in the real springtime. All this happened because the Earth year is about 11 minutes short of the 365¼ days set by Julius Caesar. It's really 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds. If the drift kept up, Easter would eventually have been observed in the summer, and Christmas in the spring. So Pope Gregory XIII appointed a commission to tweak the Julian Calendar. Under the leadership of physician Aloysius Lilius and Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius, the commission consulted with scientists and clergy. After wrestling with various ideas for half a decade, the commission proposed eliminating three leap years in every 400 (years ending in 00, unless they are divisible by 400). That would prevent further creep of the calendar against the seasons (except for a minuscule under-correction). But resetting the calendar so the equinox would come in late March needed a more drastic solution: 10...Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Steven Levy: Why the iPhone Is Almost PerfectMy first full day with the iPhone 3G turned out to be too full. At least as far as the iPhone was concerned. It was just two in the afternoon when the screen displayed the most unwelcome dialog box in mobile computing: low battery: 20% of battery remaining. In my experience, that message's real meaning is make your last call NOW, because the lights are going out soon. Though it didn't happen instantly, within a few minutes that gorgeous screen looked like the closing shot of the The Sopranos finale. I had been enjoying the iPhone 3G. The out-of-the-box price was right — as low as $200, with a two-year contract — if you qualify for the subsidy from AT&T. It was slimmer and sleeker than its predecessor. It had real GPS. And, addressing my biggest problem with the original iPhone, data loaded much faster when a 3G network was available. Most of all, I was itching to try out loads of the intriguing applications from the iTunes App Store, about a dozen of which I'd already downloaded. But there's no joy in a juiceless phone. How bad is the problem? No way around it — 3G cellular chips eat energy. But Apple's Bob Borchers contends that the iPhone team succeeded in extending battery life to an acceptable level. There's evidence to back this up: The iPhone does best its 3G rivals when it comes to run time. Nonetheless, battery life is more of a challenge for the iPhone than for its competitors, because Apple's multitouch darling entices you to actually do the things that burn through your charge like a Roman candle. It's so easy to surf the Web, play graphics-intensive games, and geolocate your buddies that the iPhone is less likely to hang out in your pocket in standby mode, waiting for a silly phone call.
iPhone 3G
"iPhone apps are a game changer," says Tim Westergren, founder of Internet radio company Pandora, whose music app — an early favorite of iPhone downloaders — perfectly illustrates the power problem. When you listen to audio stored on the iPhone, you can indulge in 24 hours of tunes without a recharge. But streaming Pandora will run the battery down in maybe five or six. According to Westergren, Pandora's growth rate doubled after the launch of the new iPhone — a phenomenon undoubtedly mirrored on thousands of battery meters. Part of what's happening is that we have unrealistic expectations from tech in general. We're so used to technomagic that we routinely expect some chemist or physicist — or clever geek at Apple — to come up with solutions to our problems. But while computing power and storage make advances in logarithmic scale, batteries seem to follow Not Much More's law. It's a problem for not just phones but everything from electric cars to hearing aids. That said, power consumption is not a dealbreaker for the iPhone 3G. Think of it as a chronic condition that requires monitoring and treatment. All over the blogosphere you'll find the Apple fanboy version of Hints From Heloise: iPhone 3G battery-extension tips. Apple's own Web page on the subject instructs users to dive into the Settings menu to turn off power-draining features. (The last suggestion is "Turn off 3G," an odd request for a product whose name includes "3G.") But the best advice is to put expectations into perspective. "This is as much a computer as a phone," says Matt Murphy, who heads Kleiner-Perkins' iFund, a $100 million initiative that seeds iPhone apps. "You don't expect a computer to last for 24 hours on one charge." Since that first meltdown, by taking battery- extending measures like switching off push mail, data fetch, and sometimes (sniff) 3G, I have only occasionally had a day where I needed to break out the charger before bedtime. One day we'll get that quantum leap in battery tech that will obviate the annoying trade-off between functionality and juice. Until then, it's so many apps to play with, so little time between charges. Email steven_levy@wired.com. Source: Wired: Gadgets | 8 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Jeannie C. Riley: Mini-skirted minx country singer As I continually slimmed down my record collection over the years, the works of certain artists who I knew would never, ever come out on CD tended to be the ones that I kept. Translation: I have a weirdly lopsided record collection that veers sharply -- there is no "in between" to speak of, to be clear here -- from several dozen live PiL bootlegs to the collected works of one Jeannie C. Riley.
Doesn't ring a bell? Remember "Harper Valley PTA"? Of course you do. Jeannie C. Riley was HOT, a late 60s/early 70s mini-skirted corn pone minx of the Nancy Sinatra variety, but Nashville style. Jeannie C. Riley was a staple on shows like Hee Haw and The Porter Wagoner Show and things like that when I was a kid. I thought she was mega-sexy and over the years I collected each and every one of her long playing efforts, each record like the ones that came before it, and the ones to come after, each trying desperately hard to come up with another hit song, a second "Harper Valley PTA," if you will. Over and over and over and over and over again. Even if she never really had another hit song, some of the results are pretty great as you can see for yourself. Make sure to download the MP3 of her extremely nutty paen to modern womanhood, The Rib.
The Cotton Patch
Source: Boing Boing | 8 Oct 2008 | 2:59 am New Bill To Rein In DHS Laptop Seizurestwigles writes with news of a new proposed bill that seeks to curtail DHS's power to search and seize laptops at the border without suspicion of wrongdoing. Here is Sen. Feingold's press release on the bill. The new bill has more privacy-protecting safeguards than the previous one, which we discussed last month. "The Travelers Privacy Protection Act, a bill written by US Senators Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., would allow border agents to search electronic devices only if they had reasonable suspicions of wrongdoing. In addition, the legislation would limit the length of time that a device could be out of its owner's possession to 24 hours, after which the search becomes a seizure, requiring probable cause."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Oct 2008 | 2:41 am YouTube to sell music, games in revenue push (Reuters)Reuters - YouTube, the world's most popular video-sharing site, will start to sell music and video games and experiment with new advertising formats to grow revenue, executives said on Tuesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 8 Oct 2008 | 2:09 am Google's Obfuscated TCPagl42 writes "Obfuscated TCP attempts to provide a cheap opportunistic encryption scheme for HTTP. Though SSL has been around for years, most sites still don't use it by default. By providing a less secure, but computationally and administratively cheaper, method of encryption, we might be able to increase the depressingly small fraction of encrypted traffic on the Internet. There's an introduction video explaining it."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Oct 2008 | 12:53 am Florida Vote Surfaces Grave Problems One Month Before ElectionsIn Palm Beach County, the results in a race for county judge have flipped twice, as thousands of ballots have been lost and found, while vote tabulation machines spit out different results on every recount. With November around the corner, voting advocates worry that the Sunshine State may wind up at the center of a new presidential election fiasco.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:47 pm Data-mining sucks: official reportA multi-year National Research Council review of data-mining as a means of discovering terrorists has concluded that this just doesn't work very well, and that it ends up harming and harassing -- and terrorizing -- innocents whose only crime is to have a profile that some database-designer thinks is hinky.The report was written by a committee whose members include William Perry, a professor at Stanford University; Charles Vest, the former president of MIT; W. Earl Boebert, a retired senior scientist at Sandia National Laboratories; Cynthia Dwork of Microsoft Research; R. Gil Kerlikowske, Seattle's police chief; and Daryl Pregibon, a research scientist at Google.As a Slashdot poster says, "Can't we just go back to probable cause?" Government report: Data mining doesn't work well (via /.) Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:38 pm YouTube links to online stores in money-making move (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:33 pm Doll-house steampunk keyboard
What's better than a full-size steampunk keyboard? A dollhouse version for your little miniature anachronisms!
Steampunk Keyboard, The Mini Me Version
(via Craft)
Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:31 pm Phone Headset Curbs Sounds of the City Wireless headsets can be a real boon to mobile-phone users, especially for chatty folks who often have their hands full. In recent years, these headsets have bolstered their noise-canceling technology, making it easier to conduct conversations even while walking on noisy city streets. Today, Motorola is unveiling its $100 Motopure H15 Universal Bluetooth Headset. It’s available from Verizon’s stores and Web site, and I’ve been testing it. While focusing on the new Motopure H15, I also took another look at two noise-canceling headsets we reviewed in May — the $130 Jawbone from Aliph Inc. and the $120 Plantronics Discovery 925. I made calls on the three headsets while standing beside a construction crew’s loud generator in busy downtown Washington, D.C., and, in a separate test, running my hairdryer on high in the background. In both of these loud scenarios, the results favored the Motopure over the Jawbone and Plantronics Discovery. Of the three, the Plantronics headset allowed the most background noise through and made it difficult for people to hear my voice. The Jawbone was much better than the Plantronics headset, but not as good as the Motopure, which dimmed loud background noise to a faint hum and seemed to amp up the volume of my own voice. I called various people and even left myself voicemails so I could hear the differences. More MicrophonesThe Motopure H15 uses two microphones, while the Jawbone uses two microphones and one modified microphone that works as a voice-activity sensor. The Plantronics headset uses one microphone. Motorola says one of its microphones hears the user’s voice, the other picks up background noise and a technology called CrystalTalk works to filter that noise out. In my Motopure testing, I saw at work technology that Motorola says is meant to automatically adjust the headset volume as noises increase or decrease in the background. And at no point during my tests with the headset did friends on the other end of the line notice any odd echoing or fading volume in my voice, as with some headsets. Snug FitUnlike the Jawbone, which — as its name reflects — works by touching bones in the face to eliminate excess noise, the Motopure H15 never touches one’s face. In fact, Motorola cites this as an advantage over the Jawbone because it doesn’t need to touch a user’s face to work. Motorola’s headset fits using a loop of clear plastic that wraps snuggly around the ear, along with an in-ear piece, though it took me a little while to figure out which of its five earbuds fit best. And unlike the Plantronics headset, which has a larger, triangular-shaped boom, the Motopure has a tiny boom that folds away when not in use. Users receive calls by simply folding the boom down, which instantly turns the headset on and connects to calls. When the boom is closed, the headset turns off to save battery. I liked the finality of closing the boom and knowing my headset was definitely off whenever I put it in my purse. And in its tucked-in position, the Motopure H15 is petite and portable. But if you’re wearing this headset on your ear, opening and closing the boom is almost impossible. Motorola recommends using the boom as you would a clamshell cellphone: Answer calls by opening the boom before donning the earpiece and end calls by removing the earpiece and closing the boom. Of course, many users will want to keep the device in their ear for an extended period, rather than fishing for it when a call comes in. For them, the awkwardness of the boom switch may be a problem. They can still keep the Motopure on with the boom opened, receiving and ending calls at any time by simply pressing the large Call button. In this state, the handset is in standby mode rather than off — the same as most Bluetooth headsets waiting for calls. One Headset, Two PhonesA plus of the Motopure is its ability to simultaneously pair with two phones, such as a personal cellphone and a work smartphone. Incoming calls to both lines are represented by different colored lights on the headset. But as soon as a call with one phone begins, the Bluetooth link to the second phone is disconnected. The Plantronics headset also has dual-phone pairing capability, but the Jawbone doesn’t. According to Motorola, the Motopure’s battery lasts for about 4.5 hours of talk time. The Jawbone’s battery lasts four hours; the Plantronics headset, five hours. In standby, Motopure and the Plantronics Discovery last for about seven days; Jawbone lasts for eight. Pressing and holding the Motopure’s up and down volume buttons spurs an indicator light to glow red, yellow or green to represent battery strength. I liked the Motopure’s sturdy charging stand, which doubles as a holder for the headset. Though this desktop charger isn’t available today from Verizon, it will be available later this month from other carriers and retailers in a $130 bundle with the headset. More Colors LaterToday, the Motopure is available in a slate color, but it will be available in black later this month and other colors are tentatively planned for November. The Jawbone and the Plantronics headset are each available in three colors, and Jawbone will release blue and pink headsets later this month. Overall, the Motopure H15’s noise cancellation worked the best out of these three headsets, and its tiny build and fold-up boom make it a helpful tool for consumers who want quiet conversations no matter where they are. Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:30 pm Microsoft touts Touchless SDK (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - Microsoft Office Labs released Tuesday its Touchless SDK for developers to experiment with multi-touch technology.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:29 pm Pac-Man as high fashion
Designer Giles Deacon took his Pac-Man-inspired fashion to the runway in Milan last month. Seriously. Brownlee has more over at Boing Boing Couture. Pac-Man fashion Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:17 pm US Customs: Sketching an SUV makes you a copyright infringerVidiot sez, "A woman stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the border, over a drawing of an SUV in her notebook. They thought the artist and college professor was an industrial spy and copyright infringer."And these are the rocket-scientists we want to give clones of our hard-drives to? As Cardinal Richelieu said, "If you give me six lines written by the most honest man, I will find something in them to hang him."
Keene artist had hard time getting back into US
(Thanks, Vidiot) Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm Esozone this weekend in Portland The Esozone festival, a "weekend event of fringe science and magick" featuring artist Paul Laffoley this weekend in Portland: An alternative but not necessarily parallel universe is forming in Southeast Portland this weekend.Esozone this weekend in Portland Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:12 pm Canadian Conservative Party pledge to reintroduce the DMCA if electedAs Canadians plan to return to the polls next week, they should know that the Conservative Party has pledged to reintroduce the bitterly controversial, one-sided Canadian DMCA, a copyright act modelled on the US failed Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The US DMCA has been in place for 10 years now and has resulted in tens of thousands of lawsuits against downloaders, the destruction of dozens of innovative businesses, and the mass-censorship of thousands and thousands of documents that were removed from the web by dishonest ideological opponents who accused them of infringing copyright. It has also totally failed to compensate artists or to reduce infringement.One formal definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different outcome. Canada's DMCA is, by this measure, insane -- and so is the party that insists on ramming it through. The Conservative Party has released its platform and it devotes a half-page to copyright that leaves little doubt that it plans to bring back Bill C-61 and continue to support ACTA. According to the platform:Conservatives Promise to Re-Introduce Canadian DMCA Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:08 pm The Blending of Music and GamesGamasutra has an opinion piece by the 'father of music games,' Masaya Matsuura, who questions the evolution of video game music (or the lack thereof) as the industry's technological advancements give rise to the capability for greater complexity. "Most games these days seem to use gorgeous orchestral soundtracks. While these large-scale soundtracks may generally be lovely to listen to, if we really think about it, isn't it all a bit lacking in imagination? Thinking about it from a simplistic visual perspective, while films are basically just watched, games are interactive." He also discusses the predilection for games to encourage "competitive fun," as opposed to "cooperative fun." GameSetWatch has a related article which talks about how excellent musical scores can help to create an emotionally charged experience, rather than simply occupying one's mind for a time.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:07 pm Analysts cut 2009 cell phone growth estimates (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:58 pm Pressure Printing's fall sale The fine artisans at Pressure Printing are holding a seasonal sale with 20 percent off all items! If you dig the artists we post about on Boing Boing, this is a great chance to buy a beautiful limited edition piece by the likes of COOP, Travis Louie, James Jean, Amy Crehore, and Camille Rose Garcia. I have Garcia's "Doomsday Animals" portfolio, seen above, and it is exquisite. I'm hesitant to frame the individual prints because I enjoy the entire package so much. Pressure Printing Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:52 pm Report Warns U.S. Could Lose Space-Spy DominanceAmerica is becoming so lousy at building spy satellites that "the United States is losing its preeminence in space," a Congressional intelligence report declares. What's worse, the decline comes as "emerging space powers such as Russia, India and China" are getting better and better at snooping from above.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:42 pm Sad Guys On Trading Floors
My pal and IFTF colleague Jess Hemerly and her friend Chris Riebschlager just whipped up a fun new photo blog called "Sad Guys On Trading Floors." Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:36 pm Air Force To Re-Open Pursuit of Cyber CommandGovTechGuy writes "Top Air Force leadership has decided to pursue forming a Cyber Command to defend Defense Department networks and to launch cyberattacks against foes, after putting the project on hold in August."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:17 pm Nasdaq: How Low Can It Go?By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily OK, now I’m getting worried. The Nasdaq Composite today got clobbered yet again, for all the usual reasons: investors are still freaked out about the financial crisis, have little faith that the congressional bailout package will accomplish anything, and now await the start of what will undoubtedly be a miserable third quarter earnings season. The Nasdaq today fell 108.08 points, or 5.8 percent, to 1754.88. That was the 65th worst day ever for the index in terms of points; the 22nd worse on a percentage basis. The index is now down 15.7 percent in the last five days, 19.6 percent in seven days, 23.5 percent since the end of June and 33.8 percent for the year to date. The index today closed at the lowest level since August 2004. In fact, the index is now one lousy point above where it closed on March 6, 1998. The Barron’s Web site may be down temporarily–we apologize for the inconvenience. Source: AllThingsD.com Consolidated Feed | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:16 pm A timely Photoshop (source unknown).
It's a 'shop job, but it's still funny. (thanks, r stevens, via) Source: Boing Boing | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:05 pm IBM Researchers Put Test Project on iPhone App StoreIBM Almaden researchers are adding their research projects to the iPhone App Store in a bid to bring them to real world users.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:00 pm IBM Researchers Put Test Project on iPhone App StoreIBM Almaden researchers are adding their research projects to the iPhone App Store in a bid to bring them to real world users.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:00 pm MySpace-HP picture alliance (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:39 pm YouTube flips switch on new sales channel (AP)AP - Online video leader YouTube has opened up its version of a home shopping network in its latest effort to wring more revenue from its massive audience and justify the $1.76 billion that Google Inc. paid for the site two years ago.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:29 pm Give Up the Fight For Personal Privacy?KlaymenDK writes "Over the last decade or so, I have strived to maintain my privacy. I have uninstalled Windows, told my friends 'sorry' when they wanted me to join Facebook, had a fight with my brother when he wanted to move the family email hosting to Gmail, and generally held back on my personal information online. But since, amongst all of my friends, I am the only one doing this, it may well be that my battle is lost already. Worse, I'm really putting myself out of the loop, and it is starting to look like self-flagellation. Indeed, it is a common occurrence that my wife or friends will strike up a conversation based on something from their Facebook 'wall' (whatever that is). Becoming ever more unconnected with my friends, live or online, is ultimately harming my social relations. I am seriously considering throwing in the towel and signing up for Gmail, Facebook, the lot. If 'they' have my soul already, I might as well reap the benefits of this newfangled, privacy-less, AJAX-2.0 world. It doesn't really matter if it was me or my friends selling me out. Or does it? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. How many Windows-eschewing users are not also eschewing the social networking services and all the other 2.0 supersites with their dubious end-user license agreements?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:29 pm Geode Tells Firefox Where You Are, What's NearbyMozilla has released a new add-on for Firefox called Geode. The plug-in, which is now available to beta testers, will make the browser more location-aware, adding greater relevancy to local search and other location-based web services.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:00 pm Overclocked Memory Breaks Core i7 CPUsarcticstoat writes "Overclockers looking to bolster their new Nehalem CPUs with overclocked memory may be disappointed. Intel is telling motherboard manufacturers not to encourage people to push the voltage of their DIMMs beyond 1.65V, as anything higher could damage the CPU. This will come as a blow to owners of enthusiast memory, such as Corsair's 2.133MHz DDR3 Dominator RAM, which needs 2V to run at its full speed with 9-9-9-24 timings."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:41 pm U.N. Report Frames Biofuels for Rising Food CostsA new report from the United Nations lays much of the blame for rising fuel costs on biofuels, but the data in the report do not support that assertion. Biofuel production is just one factor among many and does not account for the majority of the cost increases.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:30 pm Buffalo Tech Gets New Trial On Wi-Fi PatentMrLint writes "It's been a long, nearly two years of silence since CSIRO won a patent battle against Buffalo Tech, causing an injunction preventing the Austin company from selling wireless routers. On September 19, 2008, a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that CSIRO patent claims are invalid and Buffalo is getting a new trial. With any luck, we will be able to get our grubby hands on low-cost Wi-Fi routers again!"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:52 pm Nobel Winners Saw Universe's Broken SymmetryWithout the mysterious victory of matter over antimatter, we wouldn't exist.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:07 pm Bad Soldering Job Behind Atom-Smasher BreakdownPoor soldering in one of CERN's connections likely led to its malfunction.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Oct 2008 | 5:25 pm Lenovo S10 — The Best Netbook We've Seen All YearOh Lord, have mercy, we've seen a lot of netbooks this year: Everything from the good to the bad to the downright confusing. But Lenovo seems to have gotten the precarious balance of price, power and features measured out just right in its newest S10.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 7 Oct 2008 | 4:30 pm Penguins Ride Air Force Jet to South AtlanticAfter washing up on Brazilian shores, hundreds of penguins get an emergency airlift.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Oct 2008 | 3:07 pm NASA Grapples With Budget-Busting Mars RoverThe next Mars rover encounters problems and may be delayed or canceled.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Oct 2008 | 2:38 pm In Ancient Greece, Soil Was SacredThe ancient Greeks chose their sacred sites with care -- and an eye for geology.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Oct 2008 | 2:00 pm Arctic Ice Thinner Than Ever Despite Cold WinterMeasurements show ice volume in the Arctic may be thinner than ever.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 7 Oct 2008 | 1:42 pm
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It figures. Not only are the predictive data mining and behavioral surveillance efforts through which the government hopes to identify terrorists a threat to privacy, 
