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Animated Historic Documents - The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) Its hard to believe that 60 years have passed since Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the moving words within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and then learn that less than 5% of the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 4:19 pm Financial Disaster Art - Zero Dollar Bills (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) Artist Laura Gilberts upcoming exhibition could not be more timely given the worsening worldwide financial crisis. Entitled Money, Men and Mischief, the highlight is her zero dollar...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 3:39 pm The Rise of Mideast Contemporary Art - Is Iran & Arab Art The Next Big Thing? (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) Despite the political tension, art is breaking down barriers between the east and west as Iran and various Arab countries are becoming the hottest new thing in contemporary art auctions...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 3:21 pm During Tough Times, The Echo Chamber Can Be Your Best Friend
We are witnessing either an epic financial meltdown or a long overdue resetting of existing business practices and the hollow markets they create. Or, perhaps we’re experiencing both of these phenomena. Either way, it has the nation gripped with fear, uncertainty, and an unsettling eruption of questionable advice confusing everyone, everywhere. While the floor is crumbling for many industries much in the same way it did for Silicon Valley during the dotbomb years, the sky isn’t necessarily falling on the startup industry – at least not for those with marketable technology or products, dedicated and capable teams, an executable business plan, and access to the resources necessary to help it reach users and customers. For those startups that are building and marketing something of value for consumers or businesses, there is much work to do. While there is always a need to attract mainstream users, this isn’t the time to stretch or over-commit resources to hit everyone all at once. Branding is an expensive proposition, one that requires time, capital, diligence, dedicated teams, enthusiastic customers, and patience. As counter intuitive as it may seem, this is exactly the right time to market into the echo chamber to earn the support of influentials who will create significant, concentrated brand visibility and momentum to carry you forward. Your business can grow with the groundswell and doesn’t necessarily require the instant adoption by the masses in order to succeed in the short term. Usually, when the economy slides, the first natural reaction is to cut expenses, conserve cash, and hunker-down to weather the storm. All good advice. But don’t forget also that this could be your time to shine, albeit, in a strategic and intelligent way.
Now’s the time to get your head in the game and focus on what it is you do, and go do it better than anyone else. You’re either on the field or you’re on the sidelines. Any company that intentionally pulls itself from the radar screen of their customers will be absent from customer decisions and referrals. In the process, you create a frictionless opportunity for your competitors to swoop in and fill the void. There are always customers making decisions, so make sure that you’re part of the equation and process, wherever they go for information and insight. Influence and adoption historically have migrated from the edge to the center. Or using a more common example, customers and word-of-mouth referrals travel from left to right along a bell curve that starts with Innovators and Early Adopters, peaks with the Early Majority and the Late Majority, and finally permeates with reaction from Laggards.
If you dissect the art and science of technology marketing using a car as a simple metaphor, your product serves as the chassis, your cash as the fuel, Social Media, Interactive/Web, Sales, SEO, and PR as the accelerator, marketing strategy and execution as the gears, RPMs as a market indicator for listening and responding, the speedometer to convey inertia, and you, as founding executive, sitting in the driver’s seat, steering and controlling the entire operation. Marketing to the echo chamber, believe it or not, is how you get that car rolling, starting everything in first gear. Appealing to those who can help spark word of mouth is how you can accelerate, gain enough speed to shift into second, and subsequent higher gears, and attract new users and evangelists along the way, growing in distance and reach at every turn. It is the echo chamber that can help you efficiently gain velocity in order to progressively reach greater audiences and command additional financing and also revenue in the process. With its support and assistance, it is almost like starting with a colossal push. You have to start by engaging those who’ll get it, and in turn, share it with their peers. It’s an ongoing process that strengthens with each cycle.
The world doesn’t flock to new things en masse. It takes a focused and progressive strategy that evolves and matures over time. In a down economy, this is non-negotiable. Digg and Twitter are among some of the best examples of how alpha users can help promote a company or service by embracing these new solutions and religiously demonstrating why they are pervasive and useful. And, emphatic users also contribute to the community building process, assisting in the translation of the value proposition for different markets as well as enticing and compelling their peers to join them, which offsets and relieves the company from carrying the bulk of the responsibility for promotion and guerilla marketing.
But, where are Digg and Twitter in respect to the adoption cycle? They’re not as far along as you think judging by the buzz and permeation of your social graph. These companies still have oceans to swim until they become household brands. But, that’s OK. They’re building a business, cultivating legions of dedicated user communities, evolving and improving their product, and still conserving cash. Remember, it took brands such as eBay, Youtube, Google, and Amazon hundreds of millions of dollars and armies of enthusiasts and partners to achieve saturation – and many would argue that there’s still much work to be done. I would bet on any company that earned the support of innovators and early adopters and took the time to listen to feedback in order to iterate based on real world needs, preferences, pains, and new ideas. Without influence, you’re going to spend precious resources, more than you can afford, convincing people that they should pay attention. Peer-to-peer marketing is priceless and still your best bet for having a shot, and more importantly, making a long-term impact. But you first need a spark, something to start that avalanche that grows as it races downhill. The echo chamber is bigger than we think or give it credit for. In fact, think of the echo chamber as its own bell curve. Most of the blogs and users that naturally come to mind, may reside on the left side, leaving a wide array of technology enthusiasts to uncover and pursue. Innovators and early adopters are global citizens and do not solely reside in Silicon Valley. Figure out who your market is today, tomorrow, next month, and set goals for user acquisition so that you can tweak your product and tailor your messages to those very people, as they’ll uniquely connect to your story, and also share it differently among their peers, as it traverses across the bell curve. Remember, reporters, bloggers and online tastemakers (aka trendsetters) who spotlight innovation can send tens of thousands of new and loyal users to you almost instantly. I’m not just referring to unique visits of those who sign up, test things out, and then leave to try the next shiny service. When done right, the echo chamber can generate real world interest and support. It is these very users who tell you everything about what works, what doesn’t, and how to improve. These same individuals and networks also augment and complement your marketing efforts by legitimizing you’re products, associating credibility and providing pseudo endorsements, and in turn, giving you unprecedented access to their invaluable and highly connected networks of early adopter friends. This is the time to focus on user acquisition. This is edgework. Everything starts with an intimate understanding of the markets you’re trying to reach and an even deeper connection to the peers, voices, and other channels that influence them. Most of you are not marketing iPhones, gaming consoles, premium spirits, or new music artists. At the very least, you are redefining how people communicate, collaborate, connect, and ultimately work. There’s a prevailing necessity to educate your markets and introduce not just new products and services, but also change the daily routines of everyday people. Therefore the goal to race from zero to 60 and hit mass penetration immediately is not necessarily the primary goal. If we look at business development and communications as a series of strategic stages, we realize that there are focused activities that we must pursue and smaller, reachable voices we must reach and convince to help us carry and adapt our story from stage to stage – each time, addressing the needs and pain points of the individual, respective groups. Of course, as you learn, internalize feedback, change, adapt, and engage with your markets, the foundation for your business solidifies and begins to afford and beget expansion. It is at this point in time, when you can continue to expand your focus and reach to attract and inspire users residing outside of the echo chamber. Nothing beats a killer product idea and an impressive, objective, and focused team to carry it forward. Expectations count and will determine how you channel information and progress. Think too big and you’ll miss your target and burn through resources before you can ever earn any significant market traction. Aim too low and the market will pass you by. In this volatile economic climate, the echo chamber can be your direct connection to success, or at the very least, help to kickstart market adoption of your products. It is a global incubator designed to help you grow, gain momentum, and ultimately propel your business across the bell curve to appeal to and attract a wider, active base of customers. We live in interesting times and it’s up to us, and only us, to define our future. (Photo by Wetwebworks). Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 
When you are suffering from a chronic disease, sometimes the only people who can understand what you are going through are other people with the same condition. But when that condition is rare, it can be difficult to find them. WeAre.Us wants to help. It is a platform of 16 social networks that connect people with chronic illnesses. And it just launched a revamped version (which mainly features an improved user interface). The site entered the crowded health 2.0 market last April, but stands out with its focused internal framework and commitment to supporting the patients who use it. In contrast to health platforms like DailyStrength or Revolution Health, which serve as a contact point for health-related topics of any kind, WeAre.Us connects people affected by severe illnesses only. In that sense, it is more like PatientsLikeMe. But rather than create an all-encompassing site, WeAre.Us decided to take more of a niche social network approach. Given that these patients deserve special attention, the company decided to set up separate sites with individual domain names. The subsites, such as WeAreFibro.org (for users suffering from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder) or WeAreCrohns.org (Crohn’s is a gastric disease), run on the same core engine but are independent from each other. WeAre.Us tries to avoid Ning-like scattering effects by allowing users to create communities only if more more than 1,000 members can be expected. CMO Robert Patterson says another differentiator is the active, individualized support the company provides all WeAre.Us members. The approach seems to work: While Ning has over 50 Crohn’s-based (mostly inactive) micro social networks, for example, WeAre.Us’ single Crohn’s community boasts over 2,000 members. One weakness is the lack of a cross network ID and profile system (such as that used by Ning). But according to Patterson, demand for such a system is so far almost non-existent. The site’s 16 social networks are being monetized by a full sponsorship model (one sponsor per site per month) and a lead generation system: WeAre.Us collects anonymized health data from its users and passes it on to pharma companies, which can cut costs on recruiting suitable patients for clinical trials. WeAre.Us’ strategy of self-controlled sites, vertical focus, unique branding for each interest group, and human-powered user support is paying off so far: The user base, while still small, currently grows 35% month-over-month (expecting to pass the 10,000 member mark this month), with each member spending two hours on the site per visit. WeAre.Us will also soon officially announce it took the first prize in the premiere VenCorps Community Driven Capital Contest ($50,000 in cash and accolades), which is backed by New York-based private equity firm Spencer Trask. (VenCorps, for those who follow these things, is what emerged from the now-defunct Cambrian House).
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Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 11 Oct 2008 | 1:13 pm Weekly Wrapup: Mobile Web, Google RSS, Social Shopping, and MoreIt's time for our weekly summary of Web Technology news, products and trends. On the product side this week, Google said it would provide RSS feeds of search results, Yahoo updated its calendar app using...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 1:00 pm Thanks RWW Sponsors; New Sponsor Package in OctoberThank you to our sponsors, for supporting our mission to provide in-depth coverage of Web apps and trends. To enquire about sponsor slots on ReadWriteWeb, email us for a Media Kit. NEW: we now include...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 12:59 pm EMP Shielded Power Grids Under DevelopmentAn anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from MarketWatch: "A one-megaton nuclear bomb detonated 250 miles over Kansas could cripple many modern electronic devices and systems in the continental US and take out the power grid for a long time. ... A solar storm similar to the one that occurred in 1859, which shorted out telegraph wires in the United States and Europe, could wreak havoc on electrical systems. Each of the above scenarios can create a powerful electromagnetic pulse that overloads electronic devices and systems. IAN staff and Frostburg State University physics and engineering professor Hilkat Soysal are teaming — through a $165,000 project recently approved by the Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) program — to create renewable energy-powered, electromagnetic pulse (EMP)-protected microgrids that could provide electricity for critical infrastructure facilities in the event of a disaster." Also available are an EMP threat assessment (PDF) written for the US Congress and an estimation of economic impact (PDF).Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 11 Oct 2008 | 12:33 pm Russia says Soyuz space landings will be safeBAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - Russian space authorities said on Saturday they had improved safety measures for spaceships returning to Earth from the International Space Station after a...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 11:50 am CNET UK Credits Claim That Apple Will Release Networked TVsr2k writes "While the Apple rumours posted yesterday highlight some of the most commonly talked-about opinions, a writer for CNet UK sat down with Mahalo's Jason Calacanis, who told CNet he knew for a fact that Apple is developing fully networked LCD TV sets. As the writer points out, Apple dropped 'Computer' from its company name for a very good reason."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 11 Oct 2008 | 11:33 am Revenge of the Wii, Part 2 - TechNewsWorld
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 11:02 am Fish Returning to Alameda Creek After KillBy Matthew Artz FREMONT -- Fish have returned to a section of Alameda Creek where earlier this week about 5,000 were found dead in what was believed to be the creek's biggest fish kill in more than two decades, water officials said.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Zoning Meetings This Month to Help Shape Oakland's FutureBy Cecily Burt Zoning. The word alone can make people zone out. But the subject is anything but ho-hum for Oakland city planners who are in the midst of an ambitious and important update of the zoning codes that regulate the type, size, density and height of new developments citywide.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Abducted Japanese Doctor Says She, Other Aid Worker Held in SomaliaText of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo Nairobi, Oct. 10 Kyodo - A Japanese female doctor abducted in Ethiopia in September told a Somali journalist over the phone on Friday that she and another aid worker are safe in the Somali capital Mogadishu.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am DLO offers TransDock Direct for iPods (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO) on Friday announced it's shipping the TransDock Direct, a new dock and charging system for the iPod. It costs $59.99.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Oct 2008 | 11:00 am Verizon Mulls Text Fee to - InternetNews.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 10:06 am Nasa committed to Mars rover plan - BBC News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 9:31 am Outrageous Political Beatbox Videos - Sarah Palin Remixed (VIDEO)(TrendHunter.com) Sarah Palin has become the butt of many jokes and an easy target for numerous parodies. Now, Sarah Palin gets the political beatbox remix treatment by The Bam Factory. Sarah Palin...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 9:13 am Speed Up Your Research with ChunkItChunkIt is a browser plugin for Firefox and Internet Explorer that wants to help you speed up your online research. To do so, ChunkIt preloads and searches through all the links on a given page and displays...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 9:00 am British MoD Stunned By Massive Data LossMaster of Transhuman writes "Seems like nobody can keep their data under wraps these days. On the heels of the World Bank piece about massive penetrations of their servers, the British Ministry of Defense has lost a hard drive with the personal details of 100,000 serving personnel in the British armed forces, and perhaps another 600,000 applicants. This comes on the heels of the MoD losing 658 of its laptops over the past four years and 26 flash drives holding confidential information. Apparently the MoD outsources this stuff to EDS, which is under fire for not being able to confirm that the data was or was not encrypted."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:41 am PCA Starts BiorefineryBy Anonymous CONTAINERBOARD Packaging Corp of America (PCA) started up a biorefinery to produce methane gas at its Filer City, MI, semichemical corrugating medium mill that is to nearly eliminate the complex's natural gas use as well as reduce production costs.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Chemical Bank Puts Michigan on Recovery PathBy Perry, Bill IN THE NEWS MIDLAND - Change the conversation, get people talking, and move Michigan in a new direction. That is the purpose of Chemical Bank's "Save Michigan" campaign according to David B. Ramaker, chairman, and president/CEO.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am What to Do in the Rockies: OctoberBy Tatroe, Marcia Plant now Deer- and rodent-proof bulbs Tired of watching your bulbs become snacks for furry gourmands? Try these, which they avoid: blue, pink, or white bluebells (Hyacinthoides h/'spanica and H.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am L.B. Leaders Salute Former MayorLONG BEACH - Former Mayor Beverly O'Neill will be honored by Leadership Long Beach with the Excellence in Leadership award on Wednesday. The group also will honor Verizon as the Corporate Leader of the Year, and William "Bill" Barnes with the Lifetime of Public Service Award.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Salt Shortage Looms As Winter NearsBy Hubbuch, Chris The coming winter could be more slippery than usual. Road salt is so scarce that private contractors - and many county and municipal highway departments - can't even buy it this year.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Support Rings Out for Stimson Pond CleanupBy Moy, Chelsi BONNER - Residents voiced strong support Wednesday night for removing tainted sediment from a cooling pond on the Stimson Lumber Co.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Jennmar Tripling Its Jobs in GilesBy Jeff Sturgeon jeff.sturgeon@roanoke.com 981-3251 Jennmar Corp. will spend $2.65 million and hire 50 people to expand its Giles County factory producing goods for industry.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Virginia Power Shift Comes to Virginia TechBy Greg Esposito greg.esposito@roanoke.com 381-1675 Virginia Tech will be the center of the state youth environmental movement this weekend as host of Virginia Power Shift 2008.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am I'Ve Finally Become a Gmail FanBy Steven Rosenberg, Tech Talk I've never made a secret of my lack of interest in Google's Gmail service, even though I've made extensive use of the Internet giant's Docs, Groups and search services.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Retrieval of Deleted E-Mail Depends on Time, LuckBy Heather Hamilton Dear Heather: We use Outlook Express for our e-mail. I have read that it is possible to retrieve deleted e-mails. Particularly, I have read about this in recovering government or investment firm's e-mails that have been deleted in the past.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am TRICARE Information Available Via E-MailBy Anonymous TRICARE newsletters and information about coverage changes, pharmacy updates and other news is available via e-mail subscription. TRICARE officials said subscribing is fast and secure by clicking on the "little red envelope" on TRICARE's Web site, www.tricare.mil.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Startup AIDS Global NetworkingBy Susanne Amann SAN FRANCISCO - With Facebook valued at more than $15 billion and LinkedIn at $1 billion, online social communities appear worth investing in - at least to a British startup, which is jumping into the fray with a networking site aimed at executives.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am In-N-Out 25-Cent Burgers a HoaxBy Daniel Tedford Anyone who was planning to break open their piggy bank for a discounted In-N-Out anniversary burger can put the change away. The rumors of 1960s prices next week at the hamburger joint are plainly untrue.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Wind whips up fire danger in Northern California - Sacramento Bee
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 7:10 am Daily Crunch: William Tell Edition
Portal: Prelude released; now you know what you’re doing this weekend Source: CrunchGear | 11 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Asteroid arrival is successfully predicted for first timeThe object burned up over Sudan, posing no threat to people. The prediction shows that an alert system is working, a Jet Propulsion Laboratory expert says. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Overanalyzing a Web 2.0 crew's Cyprus vacationWhile Wall Street was melting down this week, a bunch of friends went on vacation to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. They enjoyed the sunshine, dined together and uploaded photos and videos, including...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Shuttle driver reflects on Nobel snub - Cape Cod Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 6:05 am UK Government Says More Spying NeededAn anonymous reader writes "Our wonderful government here in the UK has decided we're not being surveilled enough, and agreed to spend £12 billion on a programme to monitor every Briton's phone calls, e-mails, and internet usage. According to various sources, upwards of £1 billion has already been spent on the uber-database. Rationale? Terrorism, of course (no prizes for guessing). Needless to say, not everyone is as happy as Larry over this: Michael Parker pointed out how us Brits are being 'stalked.' I'm just looking forward to when the data gets lost."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 11 Oct 2008 | 5:32 am 'Virgin' shark birth in Virginia - Los Angeles Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 5:24 am Technology: Best of the Tech BlogsLEFT OUT IN THE COLD Posted by Nadia Saint lewis360.com 6 October - We went, we moaned, but in the end we survived...Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am Space Invaders Speak Squonk at Seton HillBy Jennifer Reeger The message spread like wildfire across the Seton Hill University campus. "I was coming in late for class and all of a sudden I heard people talking about aliens and spacecraft," said sophomore Sheri Hale of Altoona.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am Renewed Bail for Sex Attack Claim PCA police officer from the Plymouth area who was arrested over allegations of a serious sex attack has had his bail extended for a second time. Arrested and interviewed after being accused of a sexual assault on May 7, the police constable, who has not been named, has been suspended.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am Catch Talent Show OnlineEdited highlights of the Torbay's Got Talent final are proving a big hit on the web. Video from the Babbacombe Theatre event can be found online at www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk along with a slideshow of pictures.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 11 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am A Fantasy Universe Raises Its Broadsword Against World of Warcraft - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 4:52 am FCC, Wireless Providers at Odds Over Plan for Unused Airwaves - Washington Post
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 4:47 am Flexible OLEDs could be part of lighting's future (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Oct 2008 | 4:39 am Large population of endangered dolphins found off BangladeshThe world's largest population of vulnerable Irrawaddy dolphins -- famed as aquarium attractions -- has been found in Bangladesh's waters, according to a five-year wildlife study.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 4:33 am YouTube to Offer TV Shows With Ads Strewn Through - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 3:43 am Apple claimed to be readying networked television sets
Jason Calacanis told CNET's Nate Lanxon that "he knew first-hand that Apple was working on a networked television." From Nate's blog: These LCD HDTVs will be fully networked, with the ability to stream all your iTunes content from your Mac or PC. In fact, Calacanis told me they'll function like a standard TV with an Apple TV box, only without the need for the box. In many ways, this isn't surprising news, as Apple already produces a stunning 30-inch display for the Mac. So picture that -- only thinner -- in a bedroom, streaming iTunes movie rentals over 802.11n, controlled with the Remote app on an iPod touch or iPhone. To which I have nothing to add, except that televisions with web/content browsers in them are obviously the future. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 11 Oct 2008 | 3:35 am Tweethearts: blogger proposes to nerd girlfriend over Twitter, she tweets back acceptance. A nice way to end the week. Congratulations to Boing Boing pals Sean Bonner and Tara Brown. (Some related tales of love and photons in this cute WIRED item.) Source: Boing Boing | 11 Oct 2008 | 3:27 am Yamli Makes It Easy To Use Arabic On The Web
Approximately 60% of Arabic-speaking Internet users dislike using an Arabic keyboard, according to Yamli, a Massachusetts-based startup that launched last year. CEO Habib Haddad explains that many users have to use a Latin keyboard for their jobs or school, which makes the keyboards impractical (and many think they’re just hard to type with). When it comes time to type in Arabic, many Internet users have adopted a phonetic web language that spells out Arabic words with these Latin letters. The result, Haddad says, is messy - especially when it comes to making sounds that don’t exist in English.
Yamli has built a system that solves this problem. Users enter words phonetically into a special text box that displays a list of matching words that are written in Arabic. This allows them to keep using their Latin keyboard, without having the resulting text look like gibberish. Because there are around 22 dialects in the Arab world, Yamli has to deal with multiple different phonetic spellings, which Haddad says it does with around 95% accuracy. The company launched an Arabic frontend to Google in November 2007, and released an API in March 2008. The system was recently integrated into popular Arabic portal Maktoob (which Haddad likens to an Arab Yahoo). In the future, Haddad says that the technology will be applied to other platforms, like mobile phones. And it only has two employees, both co-founders. The company seems like a likely acquisition target for Google or any other company looking to expand Arab-speaking nations, where Haddad says development has been relatively slow. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 11 Oct 2008 | 3:10 am Energize your scalp with torturous-looking plastic nail board
Literature associated with Head Kenzan, a Japanese scalp massager, assures the reader that the yellow plastic spines "hit upon that perfect balance of not-too-hard and not-too-soft." I think I'll stick with the classic brass-tentacled head orgasmatron, myself. Seriously, if you carry this on the streets in Britain, you'll get thrown in jail. Head Kenzan Japanese Massager [Japan Trend] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 11 Oct 2008 | 3:10 am Sprint's Xohm WiMax Network Debuts In Baltimore, Works Wellbsk_cw writes "Sprint's newly launched Xohm service is now offering America's first WiMax network. Computerworld's Brian Nadel went to Baltimore to try it out, and he reports that Xohm delivered data smoothly to a car moving at highway speeds, played YouTube videos flawlessly, and on average, pushed through more than 3Mbit/sec., compared with 1.3 Mbit/sec. for the AT&T network Brian used as a comparison. But right now, coverage is only planned in a few US cities; if Sprint isn't able to ramp up its coverage quickly, it may lose its advantage."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 11 Oct 2008 | 2:42 am British already decide on phone of 2008. Yeah, that one.Well, it wasn't going to be the Instinct, was it? Source [CrunchGear] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 11 Oct 2008 | 2:16 am TR707 modified to play diabolical tunes Enjoy a cacophony of chip on your way into the weekend, courtesy of a Roland TR707 with some tricks up its sleeve. Diabolical Modified TR707 [Meadows Ling via Matrixsynth and Make] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 11 Oct 2008 | 2:11 am BlizzCon 2008: Staying true to Diablo - GameSpot
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 11 Oct 2008 | 1:53 am Devcon International Corp. Announces Signing of Restructuring Agreement with Preferred InvestorsBOCA RATON, Fla., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Devcon International Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: DEVC) announced today that it has reached an agreement with its Preferred...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 11 Oct 2008 | 1:35 am Portal: Prelude released; now you know what you’re doing this weekend
Yeah, you can probably get through an hour or so before you have to meet your better half for date night. Just don’t mention how good your reflexes are at dinner. You dog you! Source: CrunchGear | 11 Oct 2008 | 1:30 am As Rome Burned, Team Cyprus DancedYes, the meme is just getting started it seems. 1938Media does his own take of the Team Cyprus video, set to the tune of AC/DC’s HighWay To Hell:
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 11 Oct 2008 | 1:26 am Panel finds Palin abused power; Judge orders email from her private accounts be preserved (Image by Kate Black). In Alaska, a legislative panel investigating vice-presidential Sarah Palin has issued a report finding the governor unlawfully abused her authority by firing the state’s public safety commissioner. Also, remember that hacked Yahoo Mail account she used to hide correspondence from subpoenas? Snip from NYT: In another setback for Ms. Palin, a judge on Friday ordered the state of Alaska to preserve any government-related e-mail messages that Gov. Sarah Palin sent from private accounts. The ruling, by Craig Stowers of Anchorage superior court, came as the result of a lawsuit brought by a resident, Andree McLeod, against Ms. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Ms. Palin has occasionally used private e-mail accounts to conduct state business, and her Yahoo accounts were hacked last month. The judge ordered the attorney general to contact Yahoo and other private carriers to preserve any e-mail messages sent and received on those accounts. An assistant attorney general told the court that the governor was no longer using here private e-mail accounts to conduct state business.Legislative Panel: Palin Abused Authority (New York Times) Related: Wired reported earlier this week: David Kernell, the student indicted this week for gaining unauthorized access to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's Yahoo account, was allegedly involved in computer intrusion about eight years ago when he was in middle school. He and another student guessed the password of a school server while attending Eastern Hills Middle School in Texas, and gained access to some lesson plans, according to one of Kernell's former teachers.. Palin Hacker Allegedly Involved in Another Computer Intrusion (Threat Level/WIRED) Source: Boing Boing | 11 Oct 2008 | 1:06 am Apple will repair MacBooks that have faulty Nvidia GPUs (CNET)CNET - An investigation by Apple shows some MacBook Pros may have faulty Nvidia graphics processors after all, despite Nvidia's earlier assurances to the contrary, the computer maker has announced.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Oct 2008 | 1:00 am Crack WPA ten thousand percent faster with CUDA!
That’s not to say you can just grab passwords out of the air, of course, and WPA is still as secure as it was yesterday, but if someone sets their mind to cracking your network, it’s going to take them about a hundredth of the time now if they set it up right. Not exactly the best PR, but I think NVIDIA will take what they can get right now. Update: UberGizmo has more information. What, it’s Friday and I’m lazy to begin with! Source: CrunchGear | 11 Oct 2008 | 12:53 am Weekend Update, 10/10/08 [Digital Daily]
Marked by panic selling and wet-your-pants fear, it was one of the worst weeks in the financial world’s history–a week that cut the legs out from under Google (GOOG), beat Yahoo until its market cap bled purple and caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to swing more than one thousand points on an intra-day basis. It was a week that saw Sequoia Capital warn its portfolio companies to prepare for a protracted downturn or, in the words of partner Michael Moritz, be “spattered on windshields and radiator grills and be forgotten.” Turns out Bubble 2.0 sounds a lot like Bubble 1.0 when it pops. Beneath the screams of agony echoing across Wall Street, there was other news worth noting:
Observe the Blu-Ray drive and its chips naked and exposed. Thrill to the hulking motherboard and legendary Cell processor — see how they shy from the light! They wish to return to the safety of their ebon stronghold, like frightened cybercrabs. Anyway… it’s fun to see all the bits and pieces, if you’re into that sort of thing and haven’t checked it out before.
Source: Slashdot | 11 Oct 2008 | 12:12 am The Gadget Lab's Top Stories for September 2008
September 2008 came and went and along with the downturn in the economy and the increasingly agitated political campaigns, there were plenty of interesting news in the Gadget World that took their spotlight turn. The top stories we covered included the upcoming HTC G1 Google phone, the latest drama from Apple's App store client base, and the InterBike conference in Las Vegas. Once again, we calculated all the diggs, added all the Reddit points, and looked for the most commented stories with the most page views to come up with the list. If you read these stories before, we invite you to enjoy them once again. If you missed them, cuddle up to your tiny netbook and check them out over the weekend. As always, please send us your comments at our emails, or through Danny's hairstylist/life guru. The Most Popular (Non-iPhone) Stories: The Month's Top Reviews: August's Top iPhone Stories: The Best of The Rest: 
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 11 Oct 2008 | 12:11 am Team Cyprus Move To Undo “The Video”A group of twenty or so tech elite were partying 1999-style in Cyprusthis last week, and posted a lip sync video of the Journey song “Don’t Stop Believing” a couple of days ago. Among the group were Brittany Bohnet of Google, Mike Hudack of Blip.tv, Dave Morin and Aaron Sittig of Facebook, Sam Lessin of Drop.io and Jessica Vascellaro, the Wall Street Journal’s Silicon Valley beat reporter. Team Cyprus: Alcohol + Bad Judgement + Really Poor Timing The video was released just as Silicon Valley really began falling apart and the UnParty began in earnest - eBay’s 10% layoffs, Google’s stock nosedive, Yahoo’s self destruction, VC’s bunkering down, etc. And more than a few people thought the ostentatious partying was a little, ahem, tasteless in light of the meltdown back home. Now that video has been taken private, which is what it should have been marked as in the first place. But it’s too late - the video has spread to YouTube and other sites, and won’t be disappearing again. As I said yesterday, fair or not the video video will always be associated with the end of Web 2.0. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 11:52 pm British Technology Awards announced and you’ll never guess what won
The iPhone. Not that it matters much, but the stinking iPhone brought home 2008 Gadget of the Year, Best Mobile Technology, Most Stylish Technology and Technological Innovation of the Year from the British Technology Awards. The iPhone has been sweeping similar award lists like LOTR: Return of the King did in the 2004 Academy Awards. Apparently ‘coss the Pond, 2008 is already done and over with, leaving phones such as the G1, BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Storm, and HTC Touch HD out of the running cause they didn’t launch within the first 10 months of 2008. Just saying. Source: CrunchGear | 10 Oct 2008 | 11:45 pm Nasdaq Manages An Up Day; Bottom Fishing In Evidence [Voices]By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily While it was another down day for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite actually broke a string of 7 down days, and posted a modest gain: the index rose 4.39, or 0.3 percent, to 1,649.51. The index nonetheless finished the horrific week with a loss of nearly 298 points, or 15.3 percent. At one point today the index touched as low as 1542.45, stretching the loss for the week to just over 400 points, or nearly 21 percent. Astonishing. One interesting development in today’s whipsaw session was the emergence of what appears to be some selective bottom-fishing. Apple (AAPL) was the most obvious example; the stock rebounded $8.06, or 9.1 percent, to $96.80, aided by some bullish comments from Oppenheimer as well as anticipation of the company’s pending launch of new laptops at an event on Tuesday. Source: All Things Digital | 10 Oct 2008 | 11:32 pm Dell expands music tie-ins on festival circuitNEW YORK (Billboard) - At the Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival in Texas at the end of September, sandwiched between a stage and a small recycling center stood a white dome decorated...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 11:27 pm Delicious, Upcoming Founders To Show You Political Bias Of News Sites
Political sites are usually very biased, but the casual reader often doesn’t know which way a particular site tends to rant. With the new script, also available as a Firefox plugin, sites are shaded towards blue (whiny cowards) or red (warmongers) depending on their linking behavior. Andy Baio, who’s been working with Schachter on the project, describes it:
Microsoft has been testing a similar product, based on different technology, called Blews. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 11:27 pm LAI Wins Manufacturing Contracts for Land-Based Gas Turbine ComponentsSCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- LAI International, Inc., strategic supplier of precision components and sub-assemblies for original equipment manufacturers hasSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 11:27 pm Video: 192 Lasers, Nuclear Weapons, and Fusion PowerWired Science visits the high-security National Ignition Facility, which Department of Energy scientists hope will help manage the American nuclear weapons stockpile and provide the key to harnessing fusion power.Wired.com
Source: Slashdot | 10 Oct 2008 | 11:18 pm Power Station Adds Business Development ExecutiveORANGE, Calif., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Power Station LLC announces the appointment of Stuart Seiler to serve as Vice President of Business Development, to enhance venue...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 11:09 pm Video: Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Kollector’s Edition cover revealedAlex Ross is living the dream, man. The comic book geek dream that is, which is why Midway tapped him to create the cover for the Kollector’s Edition of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. Watch the video to see how he went about hand painting the whole thing. The KE will also come with a removable print and bonus video content. Hit the jump to see the finished product.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Oct 2008 | 10:59 pm HYSTA Celebrates an Outstanding 2008 Annual Conference, Incredible Turnout!HYSTA celebrates another successful Annual Conference at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- HYSTA reports...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 10:54 pm Gaiman's Graveyard Book -- spooky, magical retelling of The Jungle Book in a graveyard
Yesterday, I blogged about Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book hitting number one on the New York Times young adult list. Neil read the entire book aloud, a chapter at a time, on his book tour, and uploaded a nightly video, so that when it was done, his reading of the whole book could be viewed for free as a series of video streams.
Coincidentally, I also finished listening to the HarperCollins audio edition of Neil reading The Graveyard Book yesterday, and was overwhelmed with delight at what a wonderful, magical, sweet story this is when it's all done. The Graveyard Book retells the Jungle Book, but instead of an orphan boy lost in the jungle, raised and tormented by animals, the Graveyard Book's orphan, Bod, is orphaned by a serial killer and raised in the graveyard by ghosts (thousands of years' worth -- from pre-Roman to Victorian). Like the Jungle Book, the Graveyard Book's story takes the form of a series of loosely linked scenarios describing the childhood and coming of age of the orphan boy, in which his mischief and adventures teach him about the world he lives in and what his place in it must be. It's filled with compassion, mystery, wonder, humor (lots and lots and lots of humor), mythology, and a rich, dark, velvety spookiness that makes it especially lovely when read aloud.
Gaiman's reading is, of course, superb. He's part of a very small group of writers who really bring their work to life when they read it aloud (you can hear this for yourself in the videos from the tour). The spooky hurdy-gurdy music on the chapter breaks is also a nice flourish. This is fine work, from beginning to end, and the best bedtime story read-aloud material I've encountered in a long time. Can't wait until my daughter's old enough to read this to.
The Graveyard Book audiobook on Amazon
The Graveyard Book on Amazon
Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Oct 2008 | 10:15 pm Entertainment industry made up $250 billion/750,000 jobs losses due to piracyArs Technica's Julian Sanchez takes a long, investigative look at the entertainment industry's claim that piracy costs the American economy 750,000 jobs and $250 billion and discovers the truth: they made it up and repeated it until they forgot they had made it up.With Customs a dead end, we dove into press archives, hoping to find the earliest public mention of the elusive 750,000 jobs number. And we found it in—this is not a typo—1986. Yes, back in the days when "Papa Don't Preach" and "You Give Love a Bad Name" topped the charts, The Christian Science Monitor quoted then-Commerce Secretary Malcom Baldridge, trumpeting Ronald Reagan's own precursor to the recently passed PRO-IP bill. Baldridge estimated the number of jobs lost to the counterfeiting of U.S. goods at "anywhere from 130,000 to 750,000."750,000 lost jobs? The dodgy digits behind the war on piracy Source: Boing Boing | 10 Oct 2008 | 10:12 pm Help sink Circuit City faster with this 15% off coupon
Dar be rough waters ahead for ‘ol Circuit City and coupon code CAAXJ9DA8E will get ya 15% off a CircuitCity.com order from 10/12 to 10/18. Enjoy! via GadgetReview Source: CrunchGear | 10 Oct 2008 | 10:10 pm Kids who photograph themselves naked are child pornographers and sex offenders in OhioA fifteen year old girl in Newark, OH faces being labelled a "sex offender" for sending naked cellphone photos of herself (a minor) to other minors. If convicted, she'll spend the next ten years on public registries, classed as a producer of child pornography. No word on what compensation she (as the victim of the crime) will be able to get from herself (as the perp).According to Ohio law, 2907.323(A)(3) states anyone possessing material that shows a minor in a state of nudity is guilty of a fifth-degree felony. The violation also might qualify the juvenile as a Tier I sexual offender, which requires annual registration for a decade.Law didn't anticipate cell phone photo case Source: Boing Boing | 10 Oct 2008 | 10:07 pm Getting The UnParty Started: Seesmic Lays Off 1/3 Of Staff
“We cut everything that wasn’t outsourceable, core or absolutely necessary for the company.” Le Meur says the company isn’t in dire financial trouble yet, noting he raised a $6 million round just a few months ago. But he’s planning for a bleak fundraising future. I am an investor in the company. Tough times. Tough decisions.also read my blog post http://www.loiclemeur.com/english/2008/10/tough-times-tou.html Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 10:03 pm Comprehensive reviews of jihadi video-gamesArs Technica's Frank Caron plunges into the stormy seas of terrorism recruitment video games, reviewing such modern classics as Night of Bush Capturing, Quest4Bush, War on Americas, and Rescue The Nuke Scientist ("the player is an Iranian soldier seeking to rescue two Iranian nuclear experts who were kidnapped by U.S. forces. The game was designed in response to an American-made game called Assault on Iran that featured almost exactly the same situation, but in reverse").Bottom line seems to be that jihadis can manage to produce workmanlike first person shooters, but fall flat when it comes to using humor, sarcasm, and novel game-mechanics to drive the point home. Of course, the same can be said for the producers of America's Army -- a recruiting tool produced by the US military tool to fight people recruited by these video games. Osama bin Fragged: a review of terrorist propaganda games Source: Boing Boing | 10 Oct 2008 | 10:02 pm Idaho Rep. Sali opposed federal unemployment billU.S. Rep. Bill Sali, R-Idaho, voted against extending federal unemployment benefits earlier this month, just days before Micron Technology Inc. announced it was cutting thousands of jobs.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 10:01 pm VeriSign, ICANN Square Off Over DNS RootAs the U.S. government starts the process of closing a major net vulnerability, two longtime net infrastructure rivals -- the non-profit ICANN and for-profit VeriSign -- are battling over who will compile and verify the net's most important document. Internet experts give the nod to ICANN and bring up VeriSign's greedy past.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:59 pm What's On Your CSS Wishlist?Cascading Style Sheets are a key component to presenting content on web pages. But the standard, now more than ten years old, has its limits. If you had your say in the discussion to improve CSS, what would you ask for?Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:48 pm Artificial Gecko Adhesive, Now in Experimental Gluethefickler writes "Scientists at the University of Dayton have created a peel-on, peel-off glue which mimics the wall-climbing abilities of Spiderman. The substance, based on the feet of the Gecko lizard, is three times stickier than existing adhesives. The material is so strong that a 4×4mm pad would be enough to hold a 1.5kg object such as hardback book. However, it's likely too expensive for consumer use: one British scientist calculates that a single Post-it note using the glue would cost around a thousand dollars." We've mentioned the possibilities of synthetic gecko technology several times before, including as applied in this wall-climbing robot; commercial applications have seemed just around the corner for a while now.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:45 pm Parallel Kingdom Set To Launch One Of First iPhone/Android MMOs
Since the launch of the iPhone App Store, we’ve seen a wave of geo-aware social networks that make use of the phone’s GPS (or in the case of the original iPhone, pseudo-GPS). Each of these apps aims to help facilitate social interaction by locating nearby friends, points of interest, or people you might be interested in meeting (but might not know yet). There’s little doubt that some incarnation of one of these apps will help shape the future of social networking, but there’s still a huge geo-aware market that has yet to be tapped: Games.
Parallel Kingdom, launching at the end of the month, is set to become one of the first massively multiplayer online games (MMO) to hit the iPhone platform and Android platforms (both platforms will share the same in-game network). MMO’s have been tremendously popular on personal computers with mega-hits like World of Warcraft, and have proven to be lucrative with subscription models that feed off their addicting gameplay. Parallel Kingdom is hoping to take this success to a mobile platform. At first glance, Parallel Kingdom doesn’t seem very impressive - at least from a visual stance. The game’s interface consists of basic sprites that are overlaid on top of a Google Map. Each icon depicts a player character, an enemy, or an item. But while the game could use some drastic graphical modifications (especially given the 3D games already available on the iPhone), the technology and concept behind it is where the real excitement lies. The game uses your phone’s GPS to detect your movement across the map, and each change in physical location corresponds to a change in the game’s location. For example, our local Starbucks might be shown to be infested with monsters, but a drive down the street may reveal an area loaded with riches and friendly characters. And while the game uses physical location to determine your in-game location on a macro-level, you’re still allowed to move within a designated area without having to leave your seat (you could explore a few blocks around your workplace without having to leave the office). For now your actions are pretty limited: you can pick items (like weapons or gold) off the ground, talk to people, and attack things. The game currently lacks a skill or level system, so all combat is dictated by how much you’ve upgraded a weapon. This may be fun for a while, but the game won’t be nearly as addictive as World of Warcraft until it implements more advanced leveling systems, giving users an incentive to play more often (the game’s Director Justin Beck says that these features are on the way). The game is going to be free at launch, with plans to release a subscription based version in the future once the game’s feature set is more fleshed out. I think Parallel Kingdom and similar games have a chance to be huge - perhaps even more popular than the social networks described above. While geo-enabled social networks may be fun for networking and dating, many people will probably only use them casually. Online games have the potential to be much more addictive, and lucrative (most games can charge around $15 a month). That said, I think if Parallel Kingdom is going to be the game to really break this market open, it will need to adopt an entirely new graphics engine that can leverage the iPhone and Android’s power to display the 3D graphics these gamers are accustomed to. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:41 pm Yahoo! oneSearch shortcut and Yahoo! Go 3.0 get voice-powered search
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of Yahoo’s oneSearch. When a carrier make the effort to implement it into their WAP deck, it makes the generally convoluted process of searching for something on a mobile handset a whole lot less painful. Looking to strip the mobile search process down even further, Yahoo has announced that they have integrated voice-enabled search into a couple of oneSearch-powered applications. Nokia S60 owners are gettin’ the most out of the announcement, with both the oneSearch homescreen shortcut and the the bigger, badder Yahoo! Go 3.0 application getting the voice overhaul. Owners of select BlackBerrys can get in on the fun, too - but only with the Yahoo! Go 3.0 app. The new goods are available to folks in the U.S., UK, India, Singapore, Philippines and Canada. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:39 pm Sony seeks to harmonize music, electronics (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:37 pm Apple has lost its mind; invites field trips to Apple Stores
In a move that can be considered either innovative or madness, Apple has extended an invitation for K-12 students to run a muck through an Apple Store now through November 21. The Field Trip lasts an hour and lets the students create everything Macs are designed to do: websites, iPhoto albums, iMovies, ect. The Field Trips seem to be free, but you know, I’m thinking parents are obligated to buy something - like an iMac or MacBook. It would be rude not too. Source: CrunchGear | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:35 pm Elevator Pitch Friday: Palo Alto Software Makes Collaborative E-Mail Intelligent
It’s Elevator Pitch Friday, which means another startup has created a video that’s worth showing you. This week’s presentation comes from Palo Alto Software, a software company startup that wants to make it easier for organizations to manage and collaborate using e-mail, to save time and be more productive. Palo Alto Software wants to make organizations more efficient, by taking community wide e-mail boxes, such as info@, sales@, or admin@, and applying logic and analytics against them. For organizations that deal with large quantities of e-mail, managing that e-mail can become a task onto itself. Palo Alto Software’s E-mail Center Pro automates this task, freeing employees up to focus on the content of the e-mail instead of just managing it. E-mail Center Pro is sold through a Software as a Service model, with pricing based upon e-mail volume. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:30 pm Underground Whispering Campaign Could Undermine McCainAn e-mail circulating online that looks like a revealing personal account of a vacation taken with John McCain could undermine his image of an upright character since a lot of people appear to believe unverified information forwarded to them by their friends.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:29 pm Comparing Crashes: This One’s Worse Than ’87 [Voices]By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily With today’s further decline–as I write this, the Nasdaq Composite is down another 86 points, or 5.2 percent, to 1,559–the index has tumbled 45 percent since peaking at 2,859 last Halloween. I think we can all agree that a 45 percent decline qualifies as a market crash, can’t we? In fact, this decline is actually worse than the roughly 36 percent decline on the Nasdaq from peak to trough in 1987, but not nearly so bad as the 78 percent nightmare from 5,048 on March 10, 2000 to 1,114 on Oct. 9, 2002. Still, it is startling that the current crisis is now worse–considerably worse, in fact–than what happened in 1987. And we’re hardly out of the woods. Next week, earnings season begins in earnest, and it is not going to be pretty. Source: All Things Digital | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:21 pm Climate Models Trump Financial Models Phew!While earth scientists and investment bankers both employ data-heavy computer models, climate models are on much firmer ground than their shaky financial counterparts.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:20 pm How to Camp With Less GearWith all the gear you pack up for your camping trip, sometimes you forget what camping is all about. These hardcore tips from Les Stroud of TV's Survivorman should strip us back down to just the essentials and get us back to nature.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Oct 2008 | 9:20 pm BlackBerry Curve 8900 hands-on video
Research in Motion has a couple of more handsets that aren’t out just yet. CrackBerry got their hands on the upcoming Curve 2 - formally known as the Javelin. Think of the phone as a toned down Bold, notibly lacking 3G wireless and featuring a smaller bezel. Source: CrunchGear | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:55 pm Apple Will Fix MacBook Pros with Faulty Nvidia Chips (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - When Apple released its MacBook Pro laptop, reviewers called it an evolutionary improvement and touted its new GeForce 8600 GT mobile graphics processor, made by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia. Now some models may have faulty chips.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:50 pm IBM builds online version of China's famed Forbidden City (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:50 pm Sinking shares could make Yahoo a target again (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:47 pm Keith Loutit's time-lapse, tilt-shift filmsSydney, Australia-based photographer Keith Loutit creates lovely tilt-shifted time-lapse short films. His aim, he says, "is to present Sydney as the Model City, and help people take a second look at places that are very familiar to them." You can see more of his films on the Keith Loutit Vimeo page. Previously on BB: • Cranford Rose Garden tilt-shift timelapse Source: Boing Boing | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:31 pm Real Ad Men Talk About Mad MenEvery week on AMC TV's Mad Men, the men and women at Sterling Cooper create and design retro 1960s ad campaigns, all while obsessively chain-smoking, drinking and womanizing. Wired.com asks a real-world ad man about the show’s realism and relevance to the advertising industry today.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:31 pm The Office: Battlestar Galactica bitAnyone see The Office last night? I laughed out loud at the Battlestar Galactica bit. You? Here it is again for your viewing pleasure. For those of you who missed it, here’s the premise: Dwight claims that he never wastes the company’s time on personal activities, so Jim takes to using a stop watch to document every single second that Dwight is off task. In order to get him all riled up, Jim talks about Dwight’s favorite show, Battlestar Galactica, within earshot. Source: CrunchGear | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:30 pm Moody's puts Crown Castle unit on downgrade reviewMoody's Investors Service on Friday lowered one debt rating and placed the other ratings of Crown Castle Operating Co. on review for possible downgrade.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:29 pm Judge orders Alaska to preserve Palin's e-mailsA judge has ordered the state of Alaska to preserve any government-related e-mails that Gov. Sarah Palin sent from private accounts.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:18 pm Bipolar disorder also afflicts children, study findsThe key to a proper diagnosis, researchers say, is recognizing grandiose behavior. Their study finds that 44% of those who had manic episodes as children continued having them as adults. ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:17 pm Reimagining the US Capitol Harvard architecture student Bryan Boyer redesigned the US Capitol building for a grad school project. His motivation is that the US House of Representatives stopped growing in 1911 simply because the building couldn't hold any more seat. As a result, he says, "the US Capitol changed from monument to memorial." More interesting than the elevations and photo illustrations though are the souvenir plates and $50 bill that Boyer designed to support his big vision. Over at the Sceptical Futuryst, Stuart Candy digs into this example of "architectural time travel." From the Sceptical Futuryst: Architectural Time Capsule (Sceptical Futuryst), Our New Capitol (bryanboyer.com) Source: Boing Boing | 10 Oct 2008 | 8:11 pm Yahoo Activist: “I Sold My YHOO Stake” [Digital Daily]
“I sold my YHOO stake, which I held through my hedge fund last month when it hit $20,” Jackson told Digital Daily. “I still own a small amount personally. I had no idea idea it would fall this much but I finally decided to stop pushing a rope by calling for change from the inside [as a shareholder]. I voted with my feet. This board has the blood of its shareholders on its hands, and I hope they wear that scarlet letter stigma for a long time.” Asked to comment on Mithras Capital Partners proposal that Yahoo (YHOO) sell itself to Microsoft (MSFT) for $22 a share, Jackson had this to say: “If I was in Redmond, I’d say why not wait a few weeks and pick this company up for a couple of bucks?” Source: All Things Digital | 10 Oct 2008 | 7:59 pm Video about TarvusimJesse Thorn says: This is the new project from the guys who invented "Look Around You," Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz. It's a religion/television program called Tarvu.Say 'Hebbo' to Tarvuism! Source: Boing Boing | 10 Oct 2008 | 7:47 pm Hussein Chalayan and Kristin Baker
Earlier, I posted about artist Kristin Baker's paintings inspired by auto racing. My wife Kelly Sparks had turned me on to Baker a few months ago. But Kelly, a fashion designer, was reminded of the paintings again when she saw Hussein Chalayan's spring 2009 ready-to-wear collection. The abstract nature and colors of the prints align beautifully with Baker's paintings (example at left). And Chalaya's remarkable garment structures definitely convey the motion of a speedway. Hussein Chalayan spring 2009 collection (style.com) Previously on BB: • Kristin Baker's speedway racing-inspired paintings Source: Boing Boing | 10 Oct 2008 | 7:44 pm Fanboy Mocks Up New MacBooks
I'm sure we've all had enough of the lofty rumors, thumb-sucking speculation and blurry spy shots of the upcoming Mac notebooks that Apple will announce Tuesday. Cult of Mac blogger and Wired.com editor Leander Kahney (who, uh, sits right behind me) stumbled upon a visual treat: Fanboy mock-ups of the new notebooks.
The images are courtesy of Miguel Suarez, who in the past did a pretty spot-on mock-up of the fourth-gen iPod nano before its official release. That's some exceptional talent. Apple should hire this guy.
See also: Likely Feature List of New MacBooks [CultOfMac] Photo: Elchinocudeiro/Flickr
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Oct 2008 | 7:43 pm 'Doctor Who' No. 1 Gal Pal Shares Secrets of Sarah Jane's SuccessActress Elisabeth Sladen has played The Doctor's companion at various times since the '70s, becoming the lovable British equivalent of sci-fi legends like William Shatner or Leonard Nimoy. The star of hit Who spinoff The Sarah Jane Adventures talks with Wired.com about developing the character over the years.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Oct 2008 | 7:14 pm Forlorn record playersBy Japanese experimental musicians Otomo Yoshihide and Yasutomo Aoyama. Ensembles [Ycam via Make and Pink Tentacle] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Oct 2008 | 7:07 pm Imation hits all-time low after warning of 3Q lossShares of Imation Corp. lost a quarter of their value Friday after the maker of digital storage devices warned that its third-quarter results will miss expectations because of cuts in customer spending...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 7:03 pm Rackspace borrows $150 million from credit lineRackspace Hosting Inc., which offers Web hosting and other data services, said Friday it had drawn $150 million from its revolving credit line as a precaution to ensure liquidity.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 7:03 pm WoW Mouse Sports More Buttons Than Its Players Have Friends
WoWzers: A 15-button mouse for World of Warcraft will eliminate the need to use a keyboard to escape into a magical fantasy world where orcs and purple-skinned freaks frolic among one another freely and occasionally kill each other. This mouse looks like an ergonomic nightmare, but we all know how much WoW players want to move as little as possible to make their fantasies seem more real. Besides, this will free up one hand for the Cheetos bag. Shipping Nov. 13, the $100 WoW mouse is available for pre-order at its manufacturer SteelSeries' website. Product Page [SteelSeries via CrunchGear]
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Oct 2008 | 7:02 pm MacBook Pros Riddled with Faulty Nvidia Graphics Cards?
Who wants an Nvidia chipset in their MacBook now? Heh. Nvidia would like to have have their say in the matter, so they don’t look like jerks, which is sort of alluded to in Apple’s statement.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:53 pm iTunes Remote App coming unofficially to Android
Jeff Sharkey — winner of the $275k Android Developer Challenge — has already managed to reverse engineer one of the iPhone's most killer apps and release it for the Android platform. This raises the G1 up a notch in my appraisal; in my musically-networked apartment, Remote.app is actually a far more wonderful creation than the iPhone itself. I could easily see myself switching to another phone, as long as it had that. TunesRemote [Jeff Sharkey] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:49 pm Movers roundup: Macy's, Cogent CommunicationsMacy's Inc.'s shares hit a 13-year low Friday, after the department store chain slashed its 2008 profit outlook amid deteriorating economic conditions.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:46 pm Movers roundup: Macy's, WalgreenMacy's Inc.'s shares hit a 13-year low Friday, after the department store chain slashed its 2008 profit outlook amid deteriorating economic conditions.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:46 pm Better RIM Than Yahoo … [Digital Daily]
Really? Leaving aside for a moment the fact that Microsoft already has a mobile OS in Windows Mobile and the fact that RIM’s client architecture is, you know, based on Linux, wouldn’t a merger between two of the largest players in the smartphone market invite antitrust scrutiny? Source: All Things Digital | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:37 pm Tropical Species Also Threatened by Climate ChangeTropical species may be even more threatened by warming than polar animals.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:34 pm Bill Gates as a Rubber Promises No More Viruses
Holy bejeezus -- they went there. It's Bill Gates as a condom. I'm sure many people would refer to Gates with that not-so-nice word that starts with a D and ends with a K, but this is kind of just sickening. Troy, a Brussels shop, designed the unofficial advertisement, and it just barely crosses the line for me between "hilarious" and "barfworthy." Not at work? Check out the uncensored version via the link below. Photo: Troy
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:29 pm Amazon: Lower Guidance a “Virtual Certainty” [Voices]By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily Amazon (AMZN) shares continue to retreat amid a flurry of Street estimate and price target reductions. Tim Boyd, American Technology Research: Boyd, who has a Sell rating on the stock, today cut his price target to $45 from $60. He says that a guide down for the Q4 is a “virtual certainty” given the 11 percent rally in the dollar since the company last reported. “Unless organic demand has improved during Q3,” which is hard to imagine, he expects guidance to come down. Boyd notes that the consumer is under tremendous pressure, and writes refreshingly, “you don’t need us to tell you what’s going on out there.” Source: All Things Digital | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:05 pm $22-a-share? What a Bunch of Yahoos … [Digital Daily]
Source: All Things Digital | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:00 pm Windows 7 Will Be Less Annoying Than VistaMicrosoft says it is scaling back the frequency of User Account Control, or UAC, prompts in the next version of Windows. The prompt system, which continually asks users to allow or deny certain actions, is widely seen as an annoyance and is regarded as one of Vista's worst features.Wired.com Source: Wired Top Stories | 10 Oct 2008 | 6:00 pm SteelSeries to release 15 button World of Warcraft mouse
The new World of Warcraft SteelSeries mouse contains 15 separate, macro-programmable buttons, both for the poop socker and the gold farmer alike. It will be ergonomically unusable, but I do quite like its carapace-like design. SteelSeries drops WoW oriented 15 Button Mouse [Crunchgear] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:58 pm Nokia announcing something on October 13th Another day, another viral campaign. This time, the mystery fun is brought to us by Nokia. Visiting the page will playback a video outlining the woes of three people who have lost their phones, highlighting the idea that their phone “knows everything” about them. It then switch to the countdown shown above. They’ve even given all three of the video’s stars - Anna, Jade, and Luca - Facebook accounts, complete with fake friends and Wall posts. Anyone want to take a stab at what they’ll announce? The obvious bet would be something involving the phone shown in the countdown (the Nokia 7610) - but that seems a bit anticlimactic, and makes the whole omniscient phone aspect kind of pointless. My guess? Some sort of remote wipe/data management set-up aimed at the general consumer. Lose your phone? Take all the naughty stuff off via our handy web app! Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:56 pm Gallery of BSODs
For fuck's sakes, Get A Mac. Blue Screens of Death in unexpected locations [Pingdom] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:46 pm A virtual battle of the bands (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:46 pm Toshiba's Portégé R600 packs 9 hours of battery life into 2.4 pounds of laptop
Portégé R600 (note the preponderance of accent aigus, indicating its French Canadian market) is Toshiba's latest laptop, which Crunchgear colorfully describes as "boneriffic." It's not a powerhouse: a 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor, a 160GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM, but it weighs less than two and a half pounds and, most impressively, promises nine hour battery life, for a little over a couple grand. I've long liked Toshiba laptops, and this number is gorgeous. Toshiba's one of the few laptop makers who have gotten it for a while: after a certain price point, all you care about is weight and battery life. Portégé R600 [Toshiba via Crunch] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:43 pm Xbox 360 Arcade needs additional storage to run latest update The Xbox 360 Arcade unit, with its meager of 256MB of storage, always seemed like a rather cynical neutering of the 360 to try to superficially bring the price down lower than the Wii. Which it obviously was: if you are an Xbox 360 Arcade owner and want to keep up to date with the latest New Xbox Experience firmware, you will have to buy additional storage cards just to fit the software on your console. Yeesh. Do yourself a favor: buy yourself an Xbox with a hard drive if you're going to buy one at all.
Avatar Customization Requires 256MB of storage [Xbox 360 Fanboy] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:36 pm Gaming Makes Grown-Ups Safer DriversOlder adults may soon be able to play video games and get cheaper car insurance.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:34 pm Apple Points Fingers at NVIDIA for Notebook Defect
Apple has acknowledged a video-card defect in some of its latest generation MacBook Pro notebooks. In a bulletin posted Thursday, Apple said affected MacBook Pros include those manufactured between May 2007 and September 2008. To spell it out more clearly -- that would be the current line of MacBook Pros and the generation immediately preceding it. Apple said the issue is related to defective NVIDIA chips, which have caused some MacBook Pros to display distorted or scrambled video -- or, at worst, show nothing on the screen at all. The company is asking those affected to bring their notebooks to an Apple Store for servicing. Those in the past who have paid for such repairs can contact Apple for a refund. Support Site [Apple] Photo: Studio Phototrope/Flickr
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:23 pm Unboxing: Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 stripped of its cardboard coverings Now that the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 has stormed European shores, eager owners are rushing to share the unboxing process with the rest of the world. The best we’ve spotted so far is that of Sweden’s Fosfor magazine - for the most part, the rest of them have been “Here’s the box.. HERE’S THE PHONE!”, skipping the oh-so-crucial step-by-step undressing. Just a bit of good ol’ fashion gadget porn for your Friday afternoon. After playing with the X1 a few times during its development phase, I remain wary of its UI - that said, I’ve yet to play with a final build, and man, isn’t that some lovely lookin’ hardware? Check out a few more shots after the jump, or check out Fosfor’s full gallery.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:13 pm The Financial Crisis, as Explained to My Fourteen-Year-Old Sister [Digital Daily]You’re fourteen and have no source of income. What would convince me to lend you money if I’m not sure you can pay it back? Source: All Things Digital | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:07 pm What Was That You Were Saying About Growth Over Profits? [Digital Daily]
Good thing Facebook is committed to growth over profits because according to the latest metrics from Hitwise Intelligence, growth is slowing. While traffic to the site in the United Kingdom did increase by 4 percent between August and September this year, growth is down from 50 percent over the same period last year. Facebook’s annual growth rate is slowing as well. The site grew 88 percent in the UK between September 2007 and 2008–a strong showing, but quite a bit weaker than the 2,905 percent growth Facebook managed in the year prior. Could it be that Facebook, like other social networks that have gone before it, is nearing its saturation point? Is enthusiasm for the ironically named “Funwall” and the endless conga-line of “You’re A …!” widgets finally wearing off? Source: All Things Digital | 10 Oct 2008 | 5:00 pm Firefox Plug-In Updated To Fight Clickjacking Attacks (NewsFactor)NewsFactor - Mozilla is doing its part in the battle against clickjacking. The open-source company is offering an updated plug-in for the Firefox browser that blocks what security researchers call one of the most dangerous problems on the Web.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 10 Oct 2008 | 4:46 pm TELUS rolling out 3.5G in Canada by 2010 Even as some US carriers are just rolling out their 3G network, TELUS has announced that they will have their HSPA (”3.5G”) upgrades up and running with a “full national” launch in early 2010. This comes as part of a network sharing agreement with Bell, allowing them to get things up and running faster and cheaper than if they had to front it alone. It’s no cheap upgrade for either party, however - while they aren’t revealing the specifics, Telus does say that total capital requirements for 2009, including the HSPA upgrades, will sit right around $750 million. In the announcement, they mention that this is part of the transition to LTE (4G), though no date for that roll-out is specified. We’ve heard plans for a 2010 LTE rollout from Verizon and AT&T, though most aren’t expecting it until sometime in 2012. It’s okay - by 2010, I’ll be so busy playing jetpack tennis with my robot butler that I won’t have time to think about next generation wireless systems. (Note: Misread the press release originally - the 2010 launch is for HSPA, not LTE. Post fixed.) Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: MobileCrunch | 10 Oct 2008 | 4:42 pm Man Kills Bear With Stick, Sports Gnarly Scars
Stephen Colbert would be proud. Jim West needed 60 stitches on his head and body after getting in a scuffle with a bear and ultimately killing the furry rascal with a stick. The 45-year-old man was walking his dogs, minding his own business in British Columbia, Canada, when the bear attacked him, DailyMail reports. "'All I saw was eyes full of hatred," he told DailyMail. "I took one step forward -- smash! I swung the stick and broke it over her head." There you have it, folks. Man defeats bear -- and he didn't need a wasp knife or any other crazy new weaponry, for that matter. Just a piece of wood and the cahones of a Spartan. Hats off to you, West. You're going to have a lot of fun telling that story when people at the bar ask you where you got those scars. Man kills bear with stick (and he's got the scars to prove it) [DailyMail] (Thanks, Katharine!)
Photo: rbbaird/Flickr
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Oct 2008 | 4:40 pm No, It Is Not Web 2.0’s Fault–Not That It Matters When It’s Time to Move On [BoomTown]
As the economy continues its very drastic downward slide–part of a binge and purge cycle that is almost classic in its psychology–it is, of course, no surprise to see Web 2.0 finally wise up. While the quarter-dropping-in-the-slot was a bit slow, I think no one now doubts the impact of the tech and Internet business, going forward, from large companies to small start-ups, and all the rest of the ecosystem that relies on the virtuous circle of digital life. Much has been made here and all over the blogosphere about various prescriptions to hunker down by venture capitalists and plans by companies to cut costs in this downturn. That includes the realization that, as one Web exec wrote me yesterday, “no more eyeballs=business.” Of course, this change in tone is a good thing and much needed, given how frothy things had become in Silicon Valley over the last two years. While the excess was by no means anything like the last bubble–where inane start-ups actually had the audacity to IPO and, thereby, essentially take cynical and sometimes criminal advantage of an ignorant investing public–the maxim of Web 2.0 that basics like revenues or positive cash flow do not matter compared to growth has been a dangerous one. And though growth is key too, part of an investment and belief in the future of important trends like social networking and the ubiquity of online advertising, the go-go strategy had taken too much of the attention of entrepreneurs. And while the crash is certainly not due to that focus, and tech is indeed getting unfairly hurt, given how healthy much of the sector is, Silicon Valley needed an attitude adjustment. In other words, while the recent excess is not the culprit, its departure is a very good thing. The problem is, that does not matter at all, given the situation and where it is headed. And where is that? Onward, of course, although maybe not upward for a while. In what is a typical shift in the zeitgeist this past week, TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington penned an interesting rumination today about what he calls the “ignoble but much needed end to Web 2.0.” Like me, he references the dopey lip-synching video made by a bunch of Web 2.0 folks while on a vacation, which will surely become a classic example of how profoundly out-of-touch and egregiously silly their mindset has become. Arrington writes: “Goodbye, Web 2.0. I hope I never have to type those words again. Now can we please get back to work? There’s still a ton left to do before we get to Matrix-style virtual reality, the Singularity, and mobile phones with batteries that last a whole day.” Although it might feel like it, I think calling it an “end” is probably too dramatic for what is happening now. But I would have to agree wholeheartedly that moving on to what really matters is perhaps the silver lining in this decidedly difficult time. Source: All Things Digital | 10 Oct 2008 | 2:40 pm Gaming Mogul to Blast Off on Russian RocketA son of a U.S. astronaut and video game mogul is slated to blast off to space.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Oct 2008 | 2:34 pm Help Us Turn a G5 PowerMac into a Media Center PC
I need some help. I have an old G5 PowerMac sitting in the living room (1.8GHz, single processor, 20" Apple Cinema Display) and it's being used by my flatmates to crowd up the place with the annoying chimes of Microsoft Messenger (Messenger! On a Mac!) We use it to play movies with VLC, and it's hooked up to the stereo for iTunes use. What I really want is to turn it into a proper media center, a kiosk that can't be used for web surfing or (worse) instant messaging -- everybody has their own notebook (or two, or three) so there really is no need for it. The problem is, it's a G5. The splendid Plex won't run on a non-Intel Mac, and I haven't found anything else, preferably free or cheap, which is worth using. Right now it's running the built-in Front Row with the quite extraordinarily good Sapphire plugin, which organises all the videos on the machine and grabs metadata from IMDB. Front Row is fine, but it has no IPTV support, not even YouTube (a popular pastime for my flatmates). The other glitch is control from across the living room. The G5 is a PowerMac, and therefore has no infra-red receiver for the Apple Remote. I've tried using the Gyration Air Mouse in conjunction with USB Overdrive (a third party mouse driver) to mimic the cursor keys, enter and escape buttons, but it won't work in Front Row. In short, I'm stuck. What solutions do you have? I'm happy to spend a little cash for the right option. Here's what I want: Remote control; DVD and video file playback; cataloging of media; YouTube; music (it's all in iTunes on the same machine) and preferably some other IPTV playback (Hulu would be nice, but I'm outside the US). Also important is support for subtitles, as it's a multilingual household. All suggestions are welcome (maybe even installing Linux, if I can still share with iTunes across the network). And before you ask, that hideous trunk under the monitor has nothing to do with me.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Oct 2008 | 2:04 pm AK Ice Tray Makes Cold, Hard Bullets
Sure, it's just a novelty ice maker, but the $15 Bullet Ice Cube Tray makes ice in the shape of frickin' AK-47 bullets. The obligatory bloggers quip should enter at this point -- something about being perfect for cooling tequila shots, or maybe a recipe for a Silver Bullet*. But this reminds me of a game we used to play in a bar I once opened in North London. We'd take ice cubes from our industrial ice machine, very cold, very hard chunks of ice, and use the doorman's Black Widow catapult to fire them out of the first floor (US: second floor) windows at drunken crowds below. Irresponsible? Yes. Dangerous? Undoubtedly -- that was the whole point. Were the quickly melting projectiles traceable? Hell, no! Product page [Find Me a Gift via Uncrate] *OK, here's the recipe: 2 ounces gin, half an ounce of scotch, make like a martini, garnish with a lemon twist.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Oct 2008 | 1:34 pm Where Have All the Little Plutos Gone?The far corners of our solar system may be surprisingly sparse, research shows.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Oct 2008 | 1:23 pm Second 'Virgin Birth' Documented in SharkA female shark becomes pregnant without a male in a second documented case.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 10 Oct 2008 | 1:15 pm R-Strap: Sharp Shooting on the Mean StreetsRon Henry is a man who has clearly spent too much time in front of the mirror, muttering to himself "You talkin' to me?". Check out his kick-ass, quick-draw camera technique: What's Ron so excited about? The R-Strap, a fast-access camera support. Instead of wearing your camera like a big nerd-necklace, the R-Strap lets you sling it across your shoulder. Because the strap hooks onto the tripod mount on the bottom, the camera is right-side-up when you get it to your eye. There's more. Ron's company, Black Rapid, also sells a screw-in clip for the tripod bush on your camera or lens -- if you have a quick-release mounting plate for your tripod which has a D-ring, you won't need this. The basic models is adjustable and has the plastic stopper which ensures the camera stays on your hip when you're done, and there are two more: The RS-2 – with extra pockets – and the RS-3 Camo, which is patterned to contrast with regular, everyday clothes. The straps start at around $50. But we came to this post by way of Lifehacker, which points to a DIY version made from an old laptop-bag shoulder strap, a luggage tag and a screw. I liked the idea, but I already have a strap from an old camera bag, and my camera is already sporting the requisite D-ring from my tripod. Why not make my own?  The hardest part was rummaging through the junk drawer. I dug out the strap which has two plastic clips, one on each end. The real R-Strap has two, but it makes no difference other than that the R-Strap hook is on a swivel mount. As you can see below, the D-ring on the tripod mount is easily big enough to cope.  That's it. The strap holds the camera on my hip, ready to go. I like how it seems to stick out less than slinging the camera over a shoulder with a regular two-point strap. Another advantage is that, if you get the length right, you can use the strap to steady the camera -- pull the camera against the strap and it will tighten as you look at the LCD screen, stopping the wobbles. If you're using a non live-view DSLR, hooking your right elbow into the strap will push it down and shorten it enough to tighten it as you bring the camera up to your eye. I'll certainly be making a v 2.0 version -- my camera bag needs its strap back and I'd prefer a thinner one anyway. See how well it works in this quick video, complete with cheesy camera-shutter sound effects found as found in the original, and authentic De Niro-style gunplay. Product page [Black Rapid via Lifehacker] DIY R-Strap [Instructables]
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 10 Oct 2008 | 12:49 pm
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Comment by Jeremy M. Berg, Ph.D., Director
The best thing that can be said of the week ending Oct. 10, 2008, is this: It’s over. 
What has ex-Yahooer and Delicious founder 
It’s time to start slamming the 
It's not by the "direct" schematic and traditional design representations of the building that we get a feel for it. Instead, it's through the mediation of the new Capitol building's role as a cultural force -- one iconically reproduced on currency, commemorated in tacky souvenirs, and glimpsed through grubby windows from the backseats of cars -- that the presence of his future makes itself felt. In cinema and television, the artifacts of documentary (jerky camerawork, imperfect vantage points, bad sound fidelity) can sometimes lend a more nuanced and lifelike texture to the story than squeaky-clean realist cinema, with the camera always positioned just-so. Boyer has found his way to a sort of architectural equivalent of documentary, and I think it works.
No surprise here. Yahoo shareholder dissatisfaction is following a trend line inverse to the company’s plummeting share price. In fact, the price has dipped so low that 
Just because Microsoft acquired Danger doesn’t mean the company has its eye on Research in Motion (RIMM), though 
