Get rid of your cable box: Panasonic and Comcast show off Tru2way

Section: Video, Accessories, HDTV, Video Providers

Tru2way is coming and Panasonic is putting it in their VIERA TVs!  Yeah!  That’s great!  Now what is tru2way?!

Well tru2way is the consumer-friendly name for a technology that lets you have access to all kinds of cable television guides, on demand services, and actual cable television without the need for a convertor box. 

Panasonic is working with Comcast to show off tru2way in Denver and Chicago right now.  Other cable systems will roll out the service over time.

So in the future, we’ll have cables going right into our televisions and we will have access to all the services your cable provider makes available.  This is a bit like “cable ready televisions” back in the old days, but with a new name and much cooler features. 

Cable cards were meant to eliminate the need for set top boxes, but they lacked several key features including video on demand.  We will see how this latest technology fares.  These televisions will be available at Circuit City, Ultimate Electronics and Abt Electronics later this month.

Read [Panasonic Press Release]

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Android Also Has a Remote Kill Switch For Infringing Apps - Gizmodo

Washington Post

Android Also Has a Remote Kill Switch For Infringing Apps Gizmodo - 27 minutes ago Just after the dust has settled on Apple's controversial admission that the iPhone has a remote kill switch for disabling applications, Google has plainly stated in their Android Market terms of service that they've got one too. What Android Can Learn From the iPhone: It?s the Software, Stupid. Washington Post The Google Phone Review: What I Love & Hate About T-Mobile G-1 New York Times PC World - BusinessWeek - eWeek - CNET News all 273 news articles

High-quality photo comparison: the new unibody MacBooks - Apple Insider

Calgary Herald

High-quality photo comparison: the new unibody MacBooks Apple Insider - 35 minutes ago By Prince McLean While Apple didn't make mention of it at the time, the MacBook Air silently debuted the start of a new unibody MacBook line. Nvidia says chip faster, smaller than Intel graphics CNET News New MacBooks Shine Light On Nvidia, Intel, SSDs CRN PC Magazine - PC World - BusinessWeek - Computerworld all 1,267 news articles

Doctors warn of rash from mobile phone use (Reuters)

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Nokia 3Q profit falls 30 percent, revenue slips

Nokia sees net profit plunge 30 percent in third quarter

Once you've peeled the packaging away from your shiny new MacBook Pro, what's next? If you are iFixit, you just keep on going, cracking open the case to see what's inside.

How does dissembling the new Unibody compare to the old style Apple portables? To begin with, way easier. Once the battery compartment is off, it's just six screws beween you and the interior, and they're all on the bottom of the case. Compare this to the plastic MacBook I took apart a few days ago (to replace the keyboard, actually supplied by iFixit), which requires screws of various sizes to be removed from all over – inside the battery compartment and three sides of the case – before you get the first whiff of circuit board.

After that, things are more normal. All the components are fixed to the top case, so while there are a lot of screws, their actual removal is pretty straightforward. Until you get to the keyboard, that is.

The old white MacBook has its keyboard and trackpad built into the upper case, and the whole lot can be easily replaced. With these new MacBooks, you can't just swap out the new Unibody, so getting the keyboard off is tough. 15 minutes and 56 screws tough. Still, it's good news. IFixit:

It looks like users will be able to repair their own keyboards after all! Great news for the heavy-handed and spill-prone.

What's really striking is just how little there is inside -- the exploded view above shows everything. We guess that the new stiff body design means that none of the internal parts are structural, meaning they just bolt in. Machining the aluminum case might take a little longer, but after that it looks like a pretty quick process.

MacBook Pro Unibody First Look [iFixit]

It's the natural order of all things Apple: First the announcement, then the un-boxing. Opening up a new Apple toy is always fun -- the company pays almost as much attention to the box as what's inside the box, and with the new MacBooks it looks like Apple has outdone itself.

Flickr-er Joe Russell picked up a MacBook and has posted the packaging porn in the form of the traditional unboxing pics. His conclusion?

Very small, dense box. Not unlike a ream of paper.

Opening the box, first thing I noticed was that its virtually identical in the iPhone 3G experience... the back of the lid is black softy foam, and when lifting the black tab it brings the machine up and forward.

Joe also gives his first impressions of the new glass trackpad:

the entire surface is in fact not a clickable button... but rather the lower two-thirds. And as far as it being glass, it feels more like the original textured surface of the trackpad on the MacBook Pro.

MacBook late 08 unboxing [Flickr/Joe Russell]

Photos: Joe Russel/Flickr

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:59 am

Wealthy Asians use phones to blog, take photos: study (Reuters)

Reuters - For wealthy Asians, mobile phones and Blackberrys are much more than a way to stay in touch, with a survey finding portable communication devices increasingly being used to watch videos, take pictures and surf the Web.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:46 am

YouTube Founder Compares Online Video To Nascent TV Market

YouTube Cofounder Chad Hurley spoke at the MIPCOM Conference in Cannes, France yesterday.

In the talk, which is transcribed below, Hurley compares the current state of online video to the nascent years of television. In 1941, he says, “CBS has just launched its new television network amidst cries that it means the death of radio.” Advertisers were hard to come by. Content owners were afraid of alienating their existing audiences. etc.

Key soundbites from the speech:

• YouTube wants to partner with content owners to help them “gain unprecedented reach and scope to touch new audiences”
• “The days of the centralized distribution hub are ending”
• “This world may appear chaotic, but it can be harnessed to your advantage if you’re willing to think outside the single platform delivery model.”
• Around 10 billion videos are viewed monthly online in the U.S. alone
• On YouTube 13 hours of content are uploaded every minute
• In France over 120 million hours of video content is watched per month while over 3 million mobile phone subscribers use their phone to view a video

The full transcript is below:

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A Brave New World - The Future of Managing Content

I would like to share with you a quick story that many of you may already know.

A small group of innovators introduce a new technology that has the ability to entertain and engage people on a massive scale. Advertisers willing to risk money on this untested platform are hard to come by. Content owners are reluctant to embrace it for fear of alienating their existing audiences. And experts hail this new platform as signaling the demise of another.

As some of you may have guessed, this is not only the story of YouTube. The year is 1941, nearly 70 years ago, and CBS has just launched its new television network amidst cries that it means the death of radio.

From the printing press to the blog, from the record player to the iPod, and from the stage to the home theater, the way content has been produced, distributed and consumed in the world is constantly evolving.

The challenges we face today are not new. Today, my keynote kicks off the digital portion of this conference. I would argue that the difference between this part and the part that preceded it is semantics. We are all - digital or otherwise - confronting the same challenges and we should all be searching together for common solutions. We must embrace this new chapter, as those that came before us embraced theirs 67 years ago.

The digital age has brought with it great change and great challenges; to some it brings the goal of global content distribution closer. For others it represents a loss of control and maybe the loss of a business model. As this era accelerates – as content moves from controlled to distributed, as we migrate from a single platform delivery model to multi-platform delivery, as the world changes around us – we need to ask ourselves: can and will we adapt to this new paradigm? Are we the drivers of change, or will change drive us?

I am here to say that we want to continue to be your partner. We want to continue to work with you – the content owner – to make smarter, more informed decisions about managing and distributing your content. Many of you have already recognized the power of online digital distribution. Companies like CBS, the BBC, HBO, Sony BMG, North One and AFP just to name a few, have already joined us. In fact, yesterday we announced a major partnership with RAI, one of Europe’s biggest broadcasters. Italians have been passionately embracing our platform, discussing current affairs and enjoying performances from local talent. With RAI on board, users will be able to watch some of the most popular professional Italian content on their computer screens. And today, we are happy to announce a partnership with European powerhouse Panini. We look forward to working with both companies to provide the online content their audiences are demanding.

For those of you wary of this new, decentralized distribution model, understand that the technology exists to give you the control you need. And by opening your content to digital distribution, as so many content providers have already done, you gain unprecedented reach and scope to touch new audiences around the world, anywhere and anytime. If you embrace this opportunity, you will evolve your business model and find new channels and opportunities to deepen engagement, discover new viewers and find new, substantial revenue opportunities.

Ultimately, we all need to embark on this journey together. We cannot retreat from technological advances. Even if YouTube didn’t exist, other platforms would surely be driving this change.

There was a time when a centralized distribution model was relevant and effective. But if you listen to your audience; if you hear what they are telling you; you will understand that the days of the centralized distribution hub are ending. Your audience – today’s consumers – want access to content on PCs, TVs, mobile phones and social networking pages. And contrary to what some believe, the internet doesn’t take viewers away from traditional broadcast. As the President of NBC Research told the New York Times a few months back: “The Internet hardly cannibalizes; it actually fuels interest.” In fact, reacting to a recent Forrester study focused on engaged viewers of online video, executives from ABC, CBS and MTV all agreed that online video was adding to their total viewership rather than taking away from it. So the question before you today is: do you circle ranks and push back against the surge of change? Or, do you open yourselves to the promise and possibilities of globalized content everywhere at anytime on any device?

This world may appear chaotic, but it can be harnessed to your advantage if you’re willing to think outside the single platform delivery model. We need to continue to work together and find ways to open your content to the world, and do so with the standards, protections and strategy in place that gives you control and satisfies your audiences. Opening your distribution will give you a greater presence than ever before. And you will be able to manage your content in a way that generates new channels of revenue and taps into emerging and explosive markets, in the same way that companies like CBS and RCA, under the leadership of visionaries like David Sarnoff, did so many decades ago.

This new world is not without its challenges. The concerns that some of you have are very real. Does digital distribution mean that you lose control? What about the quality of online content?

Does the digital distribution model make sense? These are all valid and familiar questions.

The truth is that the long-anticipated convergence of TV and the computer is happening faster than anybody predicted. It’s happening now. Let’s look at just a few data points on this:

- Around 10 billion videos are viewed monthly online in the U.S. alone
- On YouTube 13 hours of content are uploaded every minute
- The number of people consuming video on their PCs is higher than ever before
- In France over 120 million hours of video content is watched per month while over 3 million mobile phone subscribers use their phone to view a video

So online video is here to stay and evolving faster and in more dynamic ways than anyone imagined, even a few years ago. As for the business questions: the market potential of online video distribution may be in its early stages, but it’s here and growing fast.

- The online video advertising market is set to be worth over a billion dollars by 2010, will reach over $3 billion by 2012, and over $5 billion by 2013

People want solutions for searching, discovering, watching, and interacting with video. And you, as content providers, are looking for new audiences and new revenue channels. Given these demands, how can we take advantage of this massive market opportunity?

Let’s recognize that video captures the visceral, dynamic quality in life and shares it with the world. This has driven YouTube’s exponential growth in the last two years. Again, 13 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s the equivalent of Hollywood releasing more than 57,000 full-length movies every week. Hundreds of millions of people come to YouTube every month to search, discover and share this content with their friends.

For you, the content owners, online video provides big opportunities across the 4 Rs: Reach, Research, Revenue, and Rights Management

First, online video provides massive and targeted reach to hundreds of millions of viewers. And we’re making those videos and communities even easier to discover. Online video also provides content owners with an opportunity to extend their brand, reach new consumers, and tap new revenue opportunities, which I’ll discuss later. For this group, online video provides the benefit of longer viewer engagement with greater frequency across multiple channels.

In August of this year the International Olympic Committee launched nine Channels on YouTube. Through our platform, the IOC offered this year’s Summer Olympic Games to a truly global audience across 78 territories in Asia, Africa and the Middle East for the first time in Olympic history. Hundreds of millions of people around the world were able to engage and experience the Olympics online, many of whom never had never had the opportunity to see the Games on their televisions. All of this took place while NBC, the broadcaster that owned the rights to the Olympics in the US, effectively used our Video ID technology to monitor and quickly block copyrighted Olympic content uploaded to the site.

Second, research provides a new breed of analytic tools that dive into who, why and where your content is being watched.

The products and features being developed by online video providers continue to evolve. For example, the American rock bank Weezer launched their music video “Pork and Beans” on YouTube resulting in over 4 million views in just two days. Using our sophisticated analytics tool, the band was able to then get an in-depth look at the video’s views. This data provided an online focus group of sorts, enabling them to prepare more effective and powerful marketing campaigns. It even helped Weezer understand where their videos were being watched and then plan their upcoming tour.

And third, global distribution and analytics tools give advertisers and content owners fresh channels of revenue on new and existing forms of content. Advertisers want simplicity with reach. Online video does this by combining reach beyond TV, with the targeting, reporting and accountability of sophisticated online advertising tools and analytics. Online video began as a playground for advertisers where they could test ideas, drive brand awareness and create consumer engagement through clever viral video campaigns. In the current economic climate, this platform also provides advertisers with an affordable distribution channel and metrics to help gauge the success of a campaign and drive engagement numbers up.

As some of you may have heard, last week we announced a groundbreaking deal with CBS to test full-length feature programming on YouTube. We also designed a new video player to provide the best possible user experience when watching this long-form content. With nearly 80,000 subscribers in their Channel and 250 million views, CBS has received a strong, positive response from the YouTube community around the quality of its programming. Under the terms of this latest deal, CBS has added more than 80 full-length shows to their Channel, complementing the more than 9,000 short-form videos already available. CBS will be selling its own advertising inventory on YouTube. This arrangement allows CBS to aggregate their ad inventory across the web to increase their reach and levergae the strength of their sales force.

An then there’s the fourth “R”. And I wouldn’t want you to think I’ve forgotten that one. Of course, I’m talking about rights and rights management. From the very beginning, we’ve been committed to working with content owners to make sure YouTube remains a platform for distribution, not unauthorized uploads. In fact, over 300 media companies, including NBC, RAI, Formula One, the Olympics and Lionsgate are using innovative products like YouTube’s Video Identification tool to better manage their presence on our site. Along with the other tools in our Content management system, Video ID helps content owners decide whether to block, promote, or even generate revenue from their content.

The European Commissioner for information, society and media, Vivian Reding, recently hailed YouTube as a great example of how content producers and service providers can work to benefit each other through our Video Identification technology, saying: “The Youtube platform tells the rights owner if his content has been uploaded to Youtube. He then has a choice: leave it up as it is, add advertising - thus monetizing the content- or requesting that the content be taken down.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. And we will remain committed to introducing these types of protections tools in the future.

Ultimately, the online video experience is about empowerment. Consumers of online video are empowered to be their own content programmers, consuming the relevant mix of mass, niche and personal media they demand. Advertisers are empowered through data to better understand and engage with their audiences. And content owners are empowered, through sophisticated identification tools, to control their content and make smart business decisions with their content.

The proliferation of content will continue exponentially. And as methods for uploading, aggregating, personalizing and distributing digital content develop, content owners will find new challenges and business opportunities. Spurred by technological innovation, people are already looking beyond their laptops to upload, customize and distribute content from and to any device.

Video content delivered to mobile devices will open consumers, advertisers and content creators to a world of opportunity. Everything from movie watching and sharing to hyper-targeting and dynamic, interactive, location-relevant ads are emerging within the mobile market. As the Web grows, so will videos’ presence in it. Accelerated by the power of embeddable video, developers will find new, innovative ways to push the boundaries of how ads are served and watched online. And the jump from the desktop to the TV, or the phone to the TV, or the camera to the TV, will all become seamless.

Gaining control of online video content and discovering effective business models are vital not only for our growth, but for our common survival. Online video is already fully integrated into the fabric of the Web – its presence is universal, inspiring and empowering to all that embrace it. In the very near future, the distribution of online video will soon cease to be seen as a threat, but rather as a fundamental distribution solution that can be personalized on desktops, phones and tv’s alike.

Where we are today is not the YouTube era. It is not the digital content era, or the multi-platform era. Where we are today is an extension of the work you have all done, built on the shoulders of CBS, RCA and the other innovators who came before us. There is no old media. There is no new media. There is one media with one common purpose: to inform, move and inspire the world through information, art and entertainment. Together, we can find a solution that will benefit everyone in this ecosystem, from consumers to advertisers to the content owners alike.

Thank you very much.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

I have never heard of this particular company, so I did some digging.  Don’t expect any exotic styling here.  Their other devices feature pretty conservative design.  Where can you expect to find this player?  We don’t know yet, but when we do, we’ll let you know.

Will this low cost player help spur adoption of Blu-ray in the homes of the general public?  I’m not sure.  The big down side to BD is it actually requires educating the consumer to a whole new level.  In the past, just showing a person a DVD explained the virtues of DVD over VHS.  Plus, DVDs were smaller, did not require rewinding, and did not suffer from the same wear and tear of VHS tapes. 

HD content on Blu-ray discs is fantastic.  However, if you don’t have a television that can show off the added resolution, then the improvements are not self evident.  The discs are not any smaller and don’t add any particular extra features that significantly differentiates BD from DVD.  We’ll be keeping an eye out on BD player sales to see how this holiday season goes.

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:15 am

"Sleeping Beauty" wakes up to DVD chart win - Reuters

Wall Street Journal

"Sleeping Beauty" wakes up to DVD chart win Reuters - 5 hours ago By Thomas K. Arnold LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It was a three-way split decision on the home entertainment charts for the week ended October 12. Audio Blues From Blu-ray New York Times LG BD300 puts Netflix and Blu-ray in one box CNET News Wall Street Journal - Melbourne Herald Sun - Bigpicturebigsound.com - WebWire (press release) all 15 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:05 am

Study finds contaminants in bottled water - Los Angeles Times

Boston Globe

Study finds contaminants in bottled water Los Angeles Times - 5 hours ago From AP Tests on bottled water turned up a variety of contaminants often found in tap water, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental advocacy group. A New Dig at Bottled Water New York Times Study Finds Bottled Water, Tap Contain Similar Contaminants AHN United Press International - The Associated Press - San Francisco Chronicle - Washington Post all 475 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:02 am

The Entire D6 Interview With IAC’s Barry Diller (3 of 3) [BoomTown]

We’re posting all the interviews from the sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place in late May.

Unfortunately, due to issues too complicated to go into, we have to post all the D6 interviews in several 15-minute parts (I know, I know).

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with Barry Diller, the always clever chairman and CEO of IAC, the Internet conglomerate whose holdings include Ask.com, Match.com and many others.

The video of the interview is in three parts, all of which I posted this week.

After a bruising court battle with shareholder and cable mogul John Malone of Liberty Media (LINTA) over the last year, Diller finally broke apart IAC (IACI) just six weeks ago. His reason: The company had become too complex and its stock had suffered due to the operating confusion.

In this third part, Diller talks about the new digital communications age, the explosion of video and then takes questions from the audience about tenacity versus stupidity in business, time management and where he is going to make “trouble” next.

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:02 am

Google and Yahoo: A Tale of Two Online Ad Markets [Voices]

By Miguel Helft, Reporter, New York Times

In the next week, the two biggest sellers of online ads, Google and Yahoo, will disclose their third-quarter financial results. They are expected to report widely different results which mirror the increasingly diverging fortunes of two forms of online advertising: search ads and display ads like banners and video clips. Most analysts believe that the search advertising market — Google’s bread and butter and a business that the company overwhelmingly dominates — is holding up relatively well despite the economic downturn and the financial crisis. On the other hand, the display advertising market, which accounts for roughly half of Yahoo’s revenue, is suffering both from the deepening crisis and from a glut of Web pages, or inventory, that advertisers can choose from.

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:01 am

Obama Makes Play for Crucial Swing-State Gamer Vote [Voices]

By John Murrell, Blogger, Good Morning Silicon Valley

It will go down as a mere footnote in U.S. election history, but Barack Obama has become the first presidential candidate to buy billboard space in the virtual landscape of video games. Over the past 10 days or so, reports have filtered in from players of the driving game “Burnout: Paradise” who were caught by surprise by the candidate’s visage beaming down from a roadside ad reminding them that the polls are now open for early voting and directing them to VoteForChange.com. Turns out the signs are just part of a buy that involves nine Xbox 360 titles from Electronic Arts and takes advantage of relatively new technology that allows advertisements to be dynamically inserted into Net-connected games.

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am

Daily Crunch: Drive-By Photo Gallery Edition

Japan gets a portable Hello Kitty DVD player, the rest of the world doesn’t
The Martyr nightlight will give your kids nightmares & voices in their heads
Sit-down arcade driving sim with built-in kegerator - wait, what?
An egg-beater turned centrifuge can save lives
Facebook hits 10,000,000,000 photos, good LORD

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am

Another Google Content Play [Voices]

By Andrew Wallenstein, Senior TV Reporter, Hollywood Reporter

Google is mounting another experiment in content distribution that might be even more ambitious than its recent launch of original animation from “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane. The Internet giant quietly launched a video series Sept. 8 on its YouTube property called “Poptub” with Embassy Row, the production company run by “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” creator Michael Davies.

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am

Analysts: New MacBooks Priced Too High to Compete [Voices]

By Brian X. Chen, Technology Reporter, Wired

Despite a raft load of nifty new features, Apple’s new Mac notebooks will have a hard time moving off store shelves during the economic crisis, industry analysts say. “There will be a lot of people looking at a lot of stuff at the Apple Store, and they’ll probably come out with [iPod] nanos or shuffles,” said Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies. “That’s what people are going to feel like they’re going to afford this year.”

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am

Why I Blog [Voices]

By Andrew Sullivan, Senior Editor, The Atlantic

For centuries, writers have experimented with forms that evoke the imperfection of thought, the inconstancy of human affairs, and the chastening passage of time. But as blogging evolves as a literary form, it is generating a new and quintessentially postmodern idiom that’s enabling writers to express themselves in ways that have never been seen or understood before. Its truths are provisional, and its ethos collective and messy. Yet the interaction it enables between writer and reader is unprecedented, visceral, and sometimes brutal. And make no mistake: it heralds a golden era for journalism.

Read the rest of this post

- In Praise of Fanfic
- Metacrap: Putting the torch to seven straw-men of the meta-utopia
- Amish for QWERTY
- Free(konomic) Ebooks
- The Progressive Apocalypse and Other Futurismic Delights
- When the Singularity is More Than a Literary Device: An Interview with Futurist-Inventor Ray Kurzweil

All 28 essays are available as free downloads (and there have been a ton of conversions to everything from Braille to OpenDoc) and, of course, there's a beautiful physical object for sale, too.

Content readings (Thanks, Jan!)

Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2008 | 6:36 am

Hubble's 486 back-up springs into life - Register

Canada.com

Hubble's 486 back-up springs into life Register - 5 hours ago By Lester Haines • Get more from this author NASA is cautiously optimistic that Hubble will soon be back in action following a boot-up of the space telescope's venerable 486 back-up system. Hubble's 486 Backup Computer Wakes Up For the First Time Since 1990 Gizmodo NASA completes remote fix of Hubble's failed computer Computerworld TG Daily - New York Times - Detroit Free Press - United Press International all 391 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Oct 2008 | 6:32 am

Obama buys first video game campaign ads (Reuters)

Reuters - Barack Obama, flush with cash and ramping up his advertising in the final weeks before the November 4 election, is making U.S. political history by placing the first presidential campaign ads in online video games.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2008 | 6:31 am

The all new Joost: No download required

Section: Video, Video Providers, Computers, Web, Web 2.0, Websites, Online Music/Video

Remember Joost?  The peer-to-peer video client made from the guys that made Skype and Kazaa?  Yeah, sometimes I forget it exists as well.  But that’s okay, because the somewhat annoying desktop client is gone.  Joost has finally gone to flash, just like Hulu and a number of other services.

Joost is touting its sort of social networking aspect to try and get people to use it.  You can use JoostFeed to watch the videos your Joost friends recently watched, or you can “Shout” about videos to your friends to tell them to watch it.  It might be a bit hard to actually use the feature unless your friends are those who haven’t already forgotten about Joost. 

One of the few things Joost has that Hulu doesn’t is actual music videos from artists and not just excerpts from musical movies.  There are some things it lacks that could be a deal breaker to some, mainly TV shows like “The Office,” “Heroes,” and “House.”

Joost does tout an extensive movie library with a lot of indie films, which is cool, but without a rating system its really hard to separate the gold from the crap, or at least the more popular stuff from the unpopular stuff.  Also, the front page plays an ad instantly upon opening it, which is a bit annoying, especially when the ads are as annoying as the Macy’s bra commercial.

Read [Joost]

Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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By now, all the first full reviews of the Android G1 phone have come out. This isn’t one of them. You can read CrunchGear’s in-depth review or my initial impressions of the G1 in an earlier post. And there are plenty of other places where you can (re)read about the specs, the slide-out keyboard, and the $179 price.

But I did get my Android loaner from T-Mobile last Friday and have been carrying it around constantly, reading my e-mails on the subway, surfing the Web, and playing with the Google Maps Street View compass feature—when New York City isn’t blocking my GPS. I can’t put it down.

That is not to say that I have set aside my iPhone. In fact, I still carry that around in my pocket as well, right next to the G1. (Yes, I know it’s weird). After living with both side by side for a few days, my initial impression has deepened that the G1 is no iPhone. But I’m also convinced that it doesn’t really matter. The Android is going to be a runaway success once it goes on sale October 22. (Already, 1.5 million are rumored to be pre-sold). The Android and the iPhone together stand in a class by themselves. As I noted in my initial take:

. . .in the end this is not really about Android versus the iPhone. It’s about Web phones versus the brick in your pocket. Simply matching the iPhone on many of these features—especially Web browsing and email—is going to be enough to help redefine the mobile market. The table stakes have just been raised. From now on, phones need to be nearly as capable as computers. All others need not apply.

I still believe that, and the apps on Android have a real chance of blowing away the apps on the iPhone some day just because Android is much more open. It lets developers access pretty much anything on the phone, from the camera to the music library (both of which are currently restricted zones on the iPhone). But that is a post for another day. Right now, I’m going to focus on how the Android stacks up to the iPhone in its most elemental features.

How do they compare? Both the Android and the iPhone are very similar in their basic capabilities. They both have large touchscreens, GPS, WiFi, 3G cellular antennas, accelerometers, and a camera. On the software side, the both have fully capable browsers (based on Webkit), Gmail, GPS-enabled Google Maps, a music player, and a whole array of third-party apps that you can browse and download directly from an App Store on each device (Google calls its store an App Market).

So far, so good. Where things break down with the G1 is in subtle differences in the user interface that keep making me stumble and pause to try to figure out what to do next. This is a problem I rarely have with the iPhone. The crux of the problem is that the G1 has too many buttons. There is, I’m afraid, a hardware/software disconnect. Too often on the G1, the hardware gets in the way.

This disconnect stems from one of the G1’s standout features that distinguishes it from the iPhone: the slide-out keyboard and the dedicated buttons below the touchscreen. The keyboard in particular is supposed to be one of the G1’s great selling points. After all, people like pressing buttons, especially when they are typing. But the keyboard actually turns out to be superfluous.

As a former Crackberry addict, I never thought I’d say this. But once you get used to typing on a touchscreen, it turns out to be easier and faster than typing on a tiny keyboard. It takes a while to realize this, but once you do there is no going back.

Maybe I’ve just been brainwashed by my iPhone, but I find its touchscreen keyboard to be much simpler to use. The individual keys are much bigger, especially since they expand as you get closer to each one. I do miss the tactile feedback, but that is replaced by an almost equally satisfying clicking sound when you press each key. And the predictive spelling takes care of most mistakes.

Instead of offering up a keyboard whenever you need it, the G1 forces you to switch modes whenever you want to type. That involves flipping open the screen to reveal the keyboard below. The layout of the keyboard itslef takes a little getting used to. It looks like standard QWERTY keyboard, except that there is an additional “menu” button where the shift button should be. The shift button us below it. But to type secondary symbols like question marks and dollar signs, instead of hitting the shift button you need to hit an “ALT” button. I am constantly hitting the “menu” button out of habit.

Once you finally type out an email, you cannot send it using the keyboard. Rather, you have to hit the menu button, which brings up a “send” option.” The G1 forces you to switch back and forth between hardware and touchscreen inputs all the time. It is annoying and jarring.

This also happens when the keyboard is closed and you are happily browsing the Web, reading through e-mails, or playing with one of the apps. It’s all touchscreen happiness, until inevitably you hit a wall and have to resort to the hard menu button or the dedicated “back” button below the screen. If all else fails, there is the handy “home” button that takes you back to the Android mobile desktop.

Maybe it’s just me, but when I’m in flying in touchscreen mode, I want to stay in touchscreen mode. What is amazing about both the Android and the iPhone is that they are truly immersive experiences. Don’t bring be back to reality by making me hunt and peck for a hard key.

Another flaw of the Android is that the only way to switch the screen to a horizontal landscape mode is to flip open the keyboard. With the iPhone, you just turn the phone on its side. Android should have copied this because sometimes you want to go horizontal when you are simply browsing the Web. It’s easier to read a Webpage that way. I find myself flipping open the keyboard just to browse the Web, but I’m not typing so the keyboard gets in my way, again. I do like the little roller ball, though. They should keep that. It’s great for playing Pac-Man.

Other pet peeves: Apple’s browser is also a little bit more satisfying. Android resizes everything into annoyingly long columns when you make anything big enough to read. And the iPhone’s screen is a tad sharper, which makes a difference when you are reading tiny print or watching videos.

Android does do some things better than the iPhone. Android has an advantage on pretty much anything that has to do with Google apps. For instance, conversations in Gmail are threaded together. On the iPhone for some reason each response is shown as a separate e-mail, and the default is set to downloading 50e-mails at a time. With Android, you get a lot more. You can also sync easier with your Google data, download all your contacts from Gmail, and Gtalk works like a charm.

Google Maps on Android includes Street View pictures. Coupled with the compass and GPS, you can see a picture of the street you are on or the building in front of you simply by holding up the phone and moving it around. I could easily see Google adding in layers of data, in effect tagging the real world Tonchidot-style.

There’s so much Android could be, and remember, this is just the first phone. But in order for it to have a chance at surpassing the iPhone and becoming the de facto mobile computing platform, it needs to close the gap on its user interface issues. The interface needs to be flawless. Invisible yet always available. For Android, that may be a dream, but it is one that is within reach.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2008 | 6:03 am

Researchers Claim To Be Able To Determine Political Leaning By How Messy You Are

According to a study to be published in The Journal of Political Psychology, you can tell someone's political affiliation by looking at the condition of their offices and bedrooms. Conservatives tend to be neat and liberals love a mess. Researchers found that the bedrooms and offices of liberals tend to be colorful and full of books about travel, ethnicity, feminism and music, along with music CDs covering folk, classic and modern rock, as well as art supplies, movie tickets and travel memorabilia. Their conservative contemporaries, on the other hand, tend to surround themselves with calendars, postage stamps, laundry baskets, irons and sewing materials. Their bedrooms and offices are well lit and decorated with sports paraphernalia and flags — especially American ones. Sam Gosling, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, says these room cues are "behavioral residue." The findings are just the latest in a series of recent attempts to unearth politics in personality, the brain and DNA. I, for one, support a woman's right to clean.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2008 | 5:58 am

Rerouting brain signals to paralyzed limbs causes movement, study ... - Los Angeles Times

Citizen

Rerouting brain signals to paralyzed limbs causes movement, study ... Los Angeles Times - 6 hours ago The research, which used monkeys, could one day lead to devices that allow people to regain some control of their limbs after suffering spinal cord injuries and other forms of paralysis. Brain cell directly stimulates muscle to work, giving hope to ... USA Today Electronic Neuron Rerouting Could Reverse Paralysis, Study Shows eFluxMedia Reuters - BBC News - The Associated Press - Financial Times all 304 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Oct 2008 | 5:41 am

Elderly Web Surfers Benefit Brains - Scientific American

Canada.com

Elderly Web Surfers Benefit Brains Scientific American - 6 hours ago A study finds that when elderly internet users surf the web, they exercise brain regions responsible for reasoning and decision making. Researchers: Navigating the Web Boots Up Your Brain TechNewsWorld Internet search results: Increased brain activity USA Today Newsweek - BBC News - VNUNet.com - AHN all 275 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 16 Oct 2008 | 5:36 am

The Idler's Glossary, by Joshua Glenn,

The Idler's Glossary, by Joshua Glenn, "playfully explores the etymology and history of hundreds of idler-specific terms and phrases, while offering both a corrective to popular misconceptions about idling and a foundation for a new mode of thinking about working and not working" is now available on Amazon.

The publisher asked me for a blurb to put on the back cover. Here's what I sent them:

The Idler's Glossary is wonderful! I opened it, set it over my eyes, and took a delightful two-hour nap. Thank you so much.

Here are a few examples from this worthy tome, which is illustrated by the stupendously talented Seth:

bootless: Must every non-useless, non-unprofitable activity involve wearing boots? Quite the contrary, wouldn't you say? Let's start using "slipshod" to mean any activity which is not an end in itself. See: FLIP-FLOP, SLIPSHOD.

bored: Being bored [a term which appeared suddenly, out of nowhere, among the smart set in the 1760s] is the condition—which Guy Debord called the "worst enemy of revolutionary activity"—of being too restless to concentrate, but too apathetic to bust a move. Fortunately, unless one's boredom becomes magnified to a sort of frustrated world-rejection, it's just a mood... and soon passes. Also note that Lin Yutang says that "philosophy began with the sense of boredom," since both involve dreaming wistfully of an ideal world. See: ACEDIA, APATHETIC, ENNUI, SPLEEN.

bum: Like "queer" or "bitch," this term for a wandering mendicant has long since been re-appropriated, as in the song, "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum." As opposed to the guy who sits in the same spot every day asking for a hand-out, the bum [from the German for "saunter"] roams freely throughout the city, the country, the planet: He is king of the road. See: BEGGAR, LOAF, SAUNTER.

cadger: Cadging, the ancient art of imposing upon the generosity of others, is an essential skill for the would-be idler, since poverty is the easiest way to obtain a great deal of free time. According to Henry Miller, who calls it "mooching," when performed without squeamishness or reservations, cadging is both exhilarating and instructive. So long as a cadger [from the Scandinavian word for "huckster"] is generous in turn (though not necessarily in kind), he ought not to be considered a deadbeat, freeloader, or sponger. See: BEGGAR, SCROUNGER.

The Idler's Glossary

Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2008 | 5:36 am

T-Mobile G1 Google Android review roundup

• Gizmodo: The G1 phone and the Android operating system are not finished products..

• Engadget: The G1 isn't going to blow anyone's mind right out of the gate.

• Om Malik: Will I recommend this phone to anyone out there looking for a smart phone? The answer is yes, especially if you don’t much care for either Windows Mobile or Apple’s iPhone device..

• Mossberg: The G1 is a very good first effort, and a godsend for people who prefer physical keyboards or T-Mobile.

• L.A. Times: So far, I feel smart enough with what I have. But I did get my geek fix from the G1.

• CNET: It's not quite there yet, so for now, the G1 is best suited for early adopters and gadget hounds, rather than consumers and business users.

Zeitgeist? The meh of the oppressed creature.

Photo: Gizmodo.

Today I’m posting an interview with another of my favorite bloggers, Dr. Housing Bubble.

I discovered the good Doctor’s blog back in early 2006 and have been a faithful reader ever since. At the time my wife was a real estate agent and the two of us became puzzled, then obsessed by the bizarre socio-economic implications of the then still-inflating housing bubble. This obsession led to discovering great blogs like Patrick.net, Professor Piggington, Peter Viles excellent blog at the LA Times, and of course, the subject of today’s interview., Dr. Housing Bubble.

The Doctor blogs anonymously. Perhaps this is because of his “Home of Real Genius” posts where he highlights -- and loudly cackles about -- some of the most ridiculously overpriced real estate listings on the MLS. If staying incognito helps him do his work, I’m all for it because his blog is such an amazing resource. There is a tremendous amount of erudition, expertise and a profound understanding of both history and economics that go into his writing. Dr HB can take complex and daunting economic theories and lay them open with a surgeon’s skill making them easily understood by all. This guy is good, really good. When he’s on a roll (which is frequently) I’ve actually found myself getting jealous that I didn’t think of that first or even worse, wishing I was as smart as he is! I suppose that’s the best style of compliment I could give the good Doctor, isn’t it? (Jealousy being such a visceral emotion...). I encourage you to check out his blog and to check it out often. The Q&A starts after the jump. Richard Metzger: What happens if the Paulson-Bernanke bailout and the best laid plans of the G8, um, don't work? What happens if housing prices still continue to drop and financial assets keep declining? And what happens when banks won't lend to anyone and there just aren't as many people anxious to sign up for mortgage debt in the middle of an economic downturn anyway? Are we all just fucking doomed? Dr. Housing Bubble: This has turned from a Paulson-Bernanke bailout into a global concerted effort to stabilize other countries as well. The Euro-zone and many of the BRIC countries were benefitting on the prospect that somehow a collapse in the United States will somehow leave the world unaffected. This idea of decoupling -- that is, the U.S. failing while other countries thrived -- seemed far-fetched from the beginning because places like Europe actually have countries with bigger asset bubbles than the U.S. I know, hard to believe but true. That is why you have seen an across the board correction on a global scale. China, Japan, Germany, Russia, and the U.S. for example have seen massive corrections in their stock markets.



At this point, the assumption is that this has to work. Yet there are many conflicting goals here. Are they seeking to unfreeze the credit markets or put a bottom on housing prices? What about maintaining lending standards yet increasing credit? These may be diametrically opposed. For example, say a bank now has capital to lend but the U.S. employment scene is getting worse. Who will you lend to?

In addition, the notion of protecting home prices is absurd. That is the reason we got into this bubble. Home prices exploding. The market will determine what a home price should go for. For example, in Los Angeles County we had a median household income of $50,000 yet at the peak, the median price hit $550,000. How did this make any sense? Even now with a median home price of $380,000 this may be out of reach for many. Historically home prices reflect local household incomes on a 3 or 4 times ratio. That is, if an area household income is $80,000 a median home price of $320,000 would seem reasonable. 



Ironically trying to prop home prices up is going to hurt more people from becoming homeowners. Banks are going to have a challenge maintaining lending standards while finding a bulk of qualified buyers to create a sufficient market to move the glut of homes on the market. And if this doesn’t work, I’m sure they will try something else since we are in uncharted territory and clearly the staunch market fundamentalists have now been proven wrong. Let the market do its thing is easier said when you don’t have to look at your investment portfolio get creamed. Of course most of the middle class will benefit little from this. 



Richard Metzger: Despite the market jumping 936 points on Monday, this whole mess doesn't seem anywhere even near the denouement...  How do you see this moment in time, are we halfway to the bottom? Where are we in the greater event cycle, mid-October 2008?

Dr. Housing Bubble: I think as a nation we are halfway through this mess. Some countries like England, Spain, and Australia may be a year or so behind us in their asset bubbles. We still haven’t seen how the credit default swap market is going to play out. We got a glimpse with the Lehman Brothers auction but that event was lost on most since the markets were collapsing at the time. The details of the current plan seem to be allocating a large portion of the capital to nine of the bigger banks. What of the other 8,000+ with many that are still filled with toxic assets? That is yet to be seen. During the S & L crisis we saw 747 institutions fail. So far this year, we have only seen 15.

In certain markets like California, we may be 2 to 3 years away from any bottom in housing prices. For example, the futures market for the LA-OC area are pricing in a bottom in for the middle of 2011. 



Richard Metzger: How will history, do you think, view this bailout in retrospect?

Dr. Housing Bubble: That is a hard question but we can rest assured that it will be a pivotal point. What seemed to be a gigantic $700 billion U.S. bailout has turned out to be a multi-trillion dollar global bailout with many countries trying to calm their own markets. As of this week, it seems like the credit markets are responding somewhat to the colossal action taken. It is yet to be seen if this will trickle down and spur consumption and credit once again.



Let us not forget that consumption is roughly 70% of our nation’s economy. We are creatures that spend. With equity disappearing and many credit card companies locking credit or even lowering credit limits in a time when people “need” access to money, will only force people to buckle up. This will not avoid a massive correction. That is baked in. This major effort was to keep us from going into Mad Max territory. 



Richard Metzger: What do you think the lay of the land (generally speaking) will look like in a year? In five years? Ten?

Dr. Housing Bubble: You know that question is highly dependent on how this massive infusion of money by the world central banks is going to play out. I think in one year we are still going to see housing prices come down. I think that is rather unavoidable given the magnitude of the housing bubble. In five years it is hard to imagine us spending like we once did at the peak during this credit bubble decade. In five years I still see housing prices lower. Japan did similar things after the bust of its real estate bubble and they experienced their lost decade which is still going on. They essentially propped up failing banks that should have failed and created zombie institutions that slumped along for years dragging down the overall economy.

Think about what was initially proposed by Paulson. He wanted to buy toxic assets from lenders who made irresponsible loans. How was this going to help out the nation as opposed to select lenders? That is why over the weekend, we have shifted from this policy to a more direct approach of capitalizing the biggest and healthiest banks in our country. That makes at least a bit more sense to most Americans. There are still proposal on how to deal with toxic assets which we will need to watch carefully because this is where the big money is going to be lost. 



Richard Metzger: How will this depression differ from the Great Depression? What are the mitigating factors that could make it a) not as bad as or b) much worse than what happened in the 1930s?


Dr. Housing Bubble: Well it is rather apparent that we have a much more active central bank. Bernanke is an expert with the Great Depression and his philosophy would guide us to believe that he will do everything he can to avoid it. The question is, can we actually avoid a major correction? Many throw around the “Helicopter Ben” nickname since many believe he will start dropping dollars before allowing any deflationary environment to take hold. 



In the best case scenario, we inflate our way out of this mess over a few years. Deflation would wreck havoc on a world economy with so much debt on the books. Why? Well look at what is happening with housing. A bank may have a mortgage that has a face value of $500,000 on a home that is now appraising at $300,000. The debt doesn’t move with the actual price of the home creating a problem for both the owner and the bank should trouble arise. And for the most part this is what has popped the bubble. After all, if that home inflated to $550,000 and you were in trouble, all you needed to do was sell it. That is how the decade housing bubble got pushed along. 



The Great Depression also had the U.S. as a creditor nation. Most of Europe was still recovering from World War I during the 20s so we actually were in a better position to lend and adjust balance sheets. This time, we are a big debtor nation. Look at our national debt that is blasted through the $10 trillion mark and is twice as high since 2000. This is frankly unsustainable. I think a better model would be something to what Japan faced in their lost decade. Each crisis is different but we are at least guaranteed a severe recession. The only question that remains is will these actions avoid a global depression. 



Richard Metzger: The so called FIRE economy is scaling down drastically. You've written that since 2000 nearly 30% of job creation has been related to real estate, including construction jobs, real estate agents, Home Depot, mortgage brokers, insurance brokers, stock brokers and investment bankers, etc. Those jobs have vanished and will not be returning anytime soon. How will these workers be reabsorbed into the work force?

Dr. Housing Bubble: Lately I’ve been paying attention to local community college enrollments here in California since I think this is a quick indicator of how people will retool. We are seeing major jumps in healthcare training in jobs such as nursing, dental hygienist, and x-ray technicians. Relatively well paying jobs with only 2 years of training. The problem as many know, California is royally in the hole and community colleges here in the state are highly subsidized. In fact, all it would cost you is $20 a unit to go to school here. The best bargain around. Given the economy enrollments are skyrocketing and many are not being able to get into these programs. That is the balance that many states will face. How are we going to retrain the workforce when many states are royally in the hole?



In addition, such a large part of our economy is based on this industry that it will not filter out in 1 or 2 years. Other areas that are growing are engineering – certainly if we have a big work creation program in alternative energy – and also in accounting. When I say accounting I do not mean finance. Accountants with the ability to understand international standards, auditors, and tax professionals (hey the government is going to get theirs since these times are tough) are probably areas which will see growth.



Yet these fields require 2 to 4 years of training. An agent here in California needs only a G.E.D. to take the test. Think about the additional retraining needed here. After the tech bust, you had a fleet of people with bachelor degrees in computer programming / science who were easily absorbed into sales and the FIRE economy. These few job fields require additional educational training which will cost the economy money. Money that is getting allocated to bailing out Wall Street firms and other institutions. We are going to need to make hard choices in our philosophy of what we view as crucial and critical to the sustainability of our country. 



Richard Metzger: If there is a very serious and protracted economic depression, it seems that certain other job descriptions -- ones which have nothing to do with the FIRE economy -- will also be lost. For well over a decade, America's main driver of economic growth has tended towards borrowing and debt -- and usury for that matter -- and because we hardly manufacture anything anymore, can the nation survive by purveying products like ESPN, Pinkberry and "Gossip Girl" in the world marketplace? If not, what'll we do?!?! It's not like anyone wants our cars anymore!

Dr. Housing Bubble: Precisely. The FIRE economy logically will see the biggest hits. But you will also see major declines in other ancillary industries. I think a rather clear indication of this is looking at Best Buy and the Family Dollar Store. Year to date Best Buy is down 47% while Family Dollar Stores are up 30%. People are shifting from “want” based items to “need” based items. That is also a reason Wal-Mart is up 14% on the year while the overall market even with the massive bounce rally is still down nearly 30% for the year. The consumption economy is going to face some major changes. I think we are going to see a major trend to frugality based items and cultural ways of living. 



Richard Metzger: What professions seem safest to you? Which lines (FIRE-related jobs aside for a moment) of work do you see as the most vulnerable moving forward?

As I previously noted, I think healthcare and engineering fields have good growth potential. We have an aging baby boomer population which almost guarantees a customer base for the foreseeable future. If we get on with major government spending in alternative energies, engineers will be in high demand as well. I think the lucrative high paying finance jobs are going to be far and few for those looking for that brass ring. I think a similarity we can draw from the Great Depression is the shift of power from Wall Street to Washington D.C. We are seeing the seeds of that already. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now for all practical matters, nationalized. We now have a large stake with A.I.G. This equity sharing plan with the banks? A partial nationalization. What we are seeing is a quick shift of power. Make no mistake. When the dust settles there will be new and stronger regulations and once again you’ll see the pendulum swing to D.C. 



Richard Metzger: In the Great Depression the further away from the city-centers people lived, the harder time they had finding jobs, so obviously it just made sense to move to the most population dense areas to find employment. Do you see the demographic map of America changing over the next decade as parts of the population migrate to different regions looking for work? What parts of the country do you see doing better off than others? Where do you plan to be and what are your own plans for riding out the shitstorm that is about to strike?

Dr. Housing Bubble: I think areas that had major bubbles like California and Florida are going to have very difficult times adjusting. Many of these states depended heavily on a healthy and bubbly housing market and projected (incorrectly) that this would go on forever. Of course it wasn’t but that is the way they plan out their year. That is why already in California we are facing a projected short fall. The budget just passed a few days ago after a record long stalemate. 



I think even if we move toward alternative energy that is years away. Oil demand even as it falls is still here with us. Areas in the mid-west with low housing prices and good paying oil related jobs may see mini boom markets.

I am sticking it out in California. Born and raised here. Really can’t see myself anywhere else in this country. This is where my friends and family are. I think the pressure for many working professionals is how can someone own a home in such an expensive area? I think that is why there is so much anger toward the bailout plan. Whenever I get that pressure loaded question of, “do you ever plan to buy?” I always say, “I already own property. Just not here in the state.” There is a cultural pressure to buy a home whether for family reasons or subtle cultural cues that if you don’t own a home, you are like a nomad. For the past few years, I’ve enjoyed the benefits of leasing in an area of my choosing while owning rental property out of state. I won’t say this is the path for most since it does take time and I won’t be like an infomercial and say, “you can make $50,000 by simply flipping this place!” Many were mistaking luck with actual investing skill. Like hitting blackjack three times in a row in Las Vegas. 



Richard Metzger: Do you think that there are going to be any economic surprises revealed by the Bush administration as they walk out the door?

Dr. Housing Bubble: Of course. The entire decade has been one big jack in the box surprise. Here we have the staunchest of the free market fundamentalists who derided regulation getting the comeuppance of their own philosophy. In fact, even in the early stages of the formation of the bailout bill you still saw this desire to keep things privatized. It was the ultimate form of crony capitalism. That is, "we’ll socialize your losses and privatize your profits." You can’t do that without compromising your actual belief. This is 26+ years in the making here. This is simply the logical extension of the crony capitalistic wild west. The market simply followed the lead of the government. Why look at your income or any down payment? Who cares! Free market for everyone. Since all this was operating in the actual free market fundamentalist system and was working, it simply reinforced their belief and on and on it went.



The envelope kept getting pushed. Sub-prime, interest only, and pay option ARMs were all manifestation of the Wild West view that was flying around. I think most logical people realize that extreme free market views are wrong just as staunch socialist views are wrong. They suffer from a principal-agent problem. Lenders who were supposed to serve a fiduciary responsibility to borrowers didn’t care since the loan wasn’t going to be in their hands after a day or so. They simply were driven by the fee. The fee structure was setup in a way to create a Ponzi scheme. Some of what people are calling a credit freeze is simply the market returning to more historical and standard loan practices. 



Richard Metzger: Between now and the end of the month... any predictions?

Dr. Housing Bubble: The California housing market will continue to face pain. Things will heat up in the Presidential race but the economy will drown out most of the political rhetoric. A new law signed by the Governator will require lenders to try a little bit harder with borrowers to avoid foreclosure. This will cause the foreclosure data to appear as a big improvement which it is not. It is simply delaying the inevitable for a few more months. 



Richard Metzger: What is the most comforting thing you could say to someone who is freaking out about the future reading this very interview???

Dr. Housing Bubble: As a nation we have been through tougher ordeals. World War I, World War II, the Great Depression, and the Civil War. We have come out stronger and better when we focus on what binds us together, not what keeps us apart. We need to accept the brutal reality that things will be tough for a few years. But if we follow what the fear mongers tell us, things will actually be worse. This is a time to think with a clear head and think about what we really want from ourselves and our country. We have a very crucial election coming up so go out there and vote.

If you are a future buyer work on keeping your finances in check and you may actually be able to afford a home without putting yourself into massive debt. Ultimately what most fear right now is instability and I can understand that. Keep yourself healthy (both mentally and physically), spend time with those you care about, and remember that we will come out of this but it is important to figure out how we want our future to look. If we make moves out of fear, our future will reflect action taken in fear. If we make logical decisions and follow courses of action based on clear thinking, we will have a better chance of improving our current situation. It really is up to us and that should make anyone feel empowered.

(Richard Metzger is guest blogger.)

Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2008 | 5:05 am

Deer Trapped in Flooded Everglades

Florida wildlife officials say near-record flooding in the Everglades have left few dry places for white-tailed deer and other animals. The concern is greatest in the sawgrass prairies north of Tamiami Trail, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

HP Licenses Technology to Home Dialysis Plus for Development of Portable Home Dialysis Machine

HP (NYSE:HPQ) and Home Dialysis Plus, Ltd. (HD+), a developer of devices and products for kidney dialysis, today announced a licensing agreement to enable dialysis patients to more easily integrate dialysis into their daily lives.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

Brad Greenspan's Hupo TV, MOGO and UiTV Announce Major China Syndication Deal

BEIJING, Oct.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

Mobile Web Usage Explodes Worldwide According to AdMob September 2008 Metrics Report

AdMob, the world's largest mobile advertising marketplace, today highlighted the rapid and global growth of mobile Web and application usage over the past year in their September 2008 AdMob Mobile Metrics Report.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

Nielsen says 10 million not ready for Analog TV switchoff

Despite government handouts designed to protect their constitutional right to television, 10m Americans with old sets still haven't picked up their subsidized digital decoder boxes. And it's getting close to cutoff time: according to the plan, over-the-air broadcasts go completely digital in just four months.

The critical fact that big box retailers don't mention when you walk past the giant pyramid of these things by the checkout lanes: if you have cable TV, you do not need one. Y'all know that, of course, but your folks might not!

Survey: 10 Million Not Ready for Analog TV's Death [Wired: Gadget Lab]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:37 am

Iomega's new terabyte network drive is small, cheap, and looks like it gets the job done

I lag behind my colleagues in the home-storage 'n' networking stakes. Joel has some stout NAS box that's probably larger than my Shuttle PC, and John's got a home theater PC, Airport expresses, the lot. He can probably flush the crapper with his iPhone.

Me, I have a 4-year old USB drive plugged into an old router. Network throughput: about 1MB a second. Yeah, so I'm not exactly the Torrent Monster. But all that could change, as Iomega's simple 1TB network hard drive is $300, has gigabit ethernet, and built-in uPnP and iTunes server support. And with the 2TB version being only $480, it's not bad on price, either.

Tempted.

Iomega releases 1TB network hard drive [CrunchGear]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:31 am

Citroen SUV concept has rainbow upholstery

Citroen's Hypnos luxury concept car has suicide doors, an "aggressive stance," and gaily upholstery. Inventorspot claims it will "Challenge Your Mind," but to be honest, I think your wardrobe in going to have a tougher battle.

The Citroen Hypnos Will Challenge Your Mind [Inventor Spot via Ubergizmo]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:25 am

United Kingdom to receive highly anticipated G1 on October 30

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Web, Google

Here in the States, we can’t wait until T-Mobile officially releases their G1 powered by Google’s Android.  Already, 1.5 million Americans placed their order for the new phone, and very few have ever seen how Android works.  This number will probably jump way up once it is released, but already you can see how popular it is, and I expect something similar to happen in the UK.

Within a short 15 days, those who live in the UK can get their hands on T-Mobile’s G1.  Now, the G1 will be available for free if you decide to get the “Combi” plan or the “Flext” plan, which both cost 40 Euros per month.  Also, both of these plans come with unlimited Internet usage, and varying amounts of minutes and texts.  The UK version of the G1 will come in both black and white, bundled with a 2GB microSD card, and uses UK’s HSUPA network, similar to United States’ HSDPA. 

In addition, Jim Hyde, Managing Director in T-Mobile’s UK division, had this to say about the T-Mobile G1:

“With so much excitement generated by the announcement last month, we’re thrilled to bring the T-Mobile G1 to the UK in time for Christmas. It’s set to revolutionise the way we use the internet on our mobiles: it’s uniquely built for effortless online communication - whether you want to email, text or blog - and with access to some groundbreaking applications on Android market, the possibilities really are endless.”

It will be interesting to see how well T-Mobile’s G1 fares in the UK market.  Stay tuned for continuing coverage.

Via [AndroidAuthority]

Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:19 am

Review: Google's first phone smart, but needs work (AP)

AP - Given Google Inc.'s reputation as a trend setter on the Web, I expected great things from its first mobile phone — especially since it is emerging more than a year after Apple Inc. launched the enormously popular iPhone.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:11 am

Every Email In UK To Be Monitored

ericcantona writes "The Communications Data Bill (2008) will lead to the creation of a single, centralized database containing records of all e-mails sent, websites visited and mobile phones used by UK citizens. In a carnivore-on-steroids programme, as all vestiges of communication privacy are stripped away, The BBC reports that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says this is a 'necessity'."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:08 am

Review: T-Mobile G1

I will keep this review short and straight to the point, folks. You know how Google likes to keep things in Beta for years and years? Well, Android is no different. Like many of you I was excited at the prospect of a new OS to muscle it’s way in and take down the iPhone, but I’m afraid Android is not it – at least not yet. The OS actually isn’t that bad, but it does have its issues and those cannot be overlooked. Unfortunately it’s the hardware that will be Android’s folly this go around until the other manufacturers can churn out some better goods.

Let’s start with the hardware.

Read more…

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: MobileCrunch | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:06 am

CrunchGear Review: T-Mobile G1

I will keep this review short and straight to the point, folks. You know how Google likes to keep things in Beta for years and years? Well, Android is no different. Like many of you I was excited at the prospect of a new OS to muscle it’s way in and take down the iPhone, but I’m afraid Android is not it – at least not yet. The OS actually isn’t that bad, but it does have its issues and those cannot be overlooked. Unfortunately it’s the hardware that will be Android’s folly this go around until the other manufacturers can churn out some better goods.

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:04 am

The government subsidies behind Cindy McCain's family fortune

(I admit the reason I'm posting is this is because the image is funny.)

John McCain has made no bones about his disgust for greed. But as Senior Editor Radley Balko reports, his wife Cindy's fortune comes from a government-created entity that’s anti-competitive and full of lobbyists and special interests.

Radley Balko on the Government Subsidies Behind Cindy McCain's Family Fortune from Reason Magazine - Hit & Run

Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:03 am

Google Answers the iPhone [Personal Technology]

In the exciting new category of modern hand-held computers — devices that fit in your pocket but are used more like a laptop than a traditional phone — there has so far been only one serious option. But that will all change on Oct. 22, when T-Mobile and Google bring out the G1, the first hand-held computer that’s in the same class as Apple’s iPhone.

I have been testing the G1 extensively, in multiple cities and in multiple scenarios. In general, I like it and consider it a worthy competitor to the iPhone. Both devices run on fast 3G phone networks and include Wi-Fi. Both have smart-touch interfaces and robust Web browsers. Both have the ability to easily download third-party apps, or programs.

But the two devices have different strengths and weaknesses, and are likely to attract different types of users.

If you’ve been lusting after the iPhone’s functionality, but didn’t like its virtual keyboard or its user interface or its U.S. carrier, AT&T, the G1 may be just the ticket for you. But it does have some significant downsides.

By far, the G1’s biggest differentiator is that it has a physical keyboard, which is revealed by sliding open the screen. The keyboard proved only fair in my tests, with keys that are too flat and that can be hard to see in bright light, and with a bulge in the body on the right side that you have to reach over to type. But, for the many people who can’t stomach typing on glass, the G1 keyboard will be a welcome sight. It’s complemented by a BlackBerry-like trackball for navigation.

The G1 has a smart-touch screen like its iPhone rival, for Web browsing and downloading programs. But it has a physical keyboard for conventional typing.

The G1 has a removable battery and uses removable, expandable memory cards. And it’s even a bit cheaper than its Apple rival: $179 versus $199. Its data plan also costs less — $25 a month versus $30 — and includes 400 free text messages, which cost extra on the iPhone. There’s also a $35 plan that includes unlimited text messages. And both plans include free use of T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi hotspots.

The G1 has a slick, clever touch interface to go along with its keyboard, and it includes a powerful new operating system. The operating system, called Android, was built by Google. It is slated to appear on other phones over time, though it likely will look different on other devices because it is fully open to modification by other companies.

On the G1, the touch interface is fast and smooth. Programs appear when you drag up a tab at the bottom of the screen, and notifications of new messages can be read by simply dragging down the top bar of the screen.

You get much more flexibility in organizing your desktop than on the iPhone. In addition to placing icons for programs there, you can add individual contacts, music playlists, folders, Web pages and more. You just press on the screen for a longer-than-usual time, and a list of items you can add appears. It also has a higher-resolution camera than the iPhone, but like the Apple phone, it can’t shoot video.

It’s also much easier to place a phone call on the G1 than on the iPhone. You can just start typing a contact name or phone number while on the home screen, sparing you the need to enter the phone or contacts program. And there’s a virtual phone keypad that allows you to avoid opening the physical keyboard just to dial a number. It’s also much easier to jump to the top and bottom of long lists.

The G1’s Web browser, built on the same technology as the iPhone’s, worked well at rendering scores of common sites in my tests. You can either pan around pages with your finger, or choose to view the whole page at once and zero-in on a section by moving a small rectangle around.

This first Android phone, which was largely designed by Google and built by Taiwan-based HTC, also includes some key features Apple omitted. These include a limited ability to copy and paste text, and the ability to send photos directly to other phones without relying on email, a common phone feature called MMS, or Multimedia Messaging Service. And, unlike AT&T, T-Mobile will even allow users to legally unlock the phone after 90 days and start using it on another carrier, provided you pay a hefty early-termination fee.

In my battery tests, the G1 lasted through the day, but I had to charge it every night. That’s better than the initial battery life on the current iPhone, though in fairness, Apple has improved the iPhone’s battery life through software updates, and I found them to be about the same for mixed use.

In my talk-time test, the G1 got just under its claimed five hours, about 19 minutes better than the iPhone.

There are two email programs: one for Google’s Gmail, another for all other email services. There’s an instant-messaging program that works with multiple services. There’s one program for accessing Google’s YouTube service and another for Google Maps. The G1’s Google Maps program even has a feature, coming soon as well to the iPhone, that offers photographic street views of certain locations. But the G1, unlike the iPhone, includes a compass that orients the street views as you walk.

The built-in download store for third-party programs, called Market, worked well in my tests. I was able to quickly download games, productivity programs, and other apps and, unlike Apple, Google says it isn’t blocking any programs.

However, the G1 also has downsides. It’s a chunky brick of a device. While it’s a bit narrower than the iPhone and feels OK in the hand, it’s almost 20% heavier and nearly 30% thicker. It also has a smaller screen and doesn’t accept standard stereo headphones.

The G1 also skimps on memory. It comes with only 1 gigabyte of storage, just one-eighth of what the base iPhone offers. To increase the G1’s memory, you have to lay out more money to buy a larger memory card.

The G1 also limits third-party applications to a paltry 128 megabytes of memory. At one point in my tests, after downloading a bunch of third-party programs, and adding songs and videos, the G1 warned me it was running out of room, a warning I have never seen on my heavily used iPhone.

Another downside for some users: The G1 is tightly tied to Google’s online services. While you can use non-Google email and IM services, the only way you can get contacts and calendar items into the phone is to synchronize with Google’s online calendar and contacts services. In fact, you can’t even use the G1 without a Google user ID and password.

The G1 doesn’t allow the use of Microsoft’s Exchange service for email, contacts or calendar items, or any other company’s over-the-air synchronization for contacts and appointments.

In my tests, synchronizing with Gmail, and with Google’s contacts and calendar applications, was smooth and fast. So, the G1 may be great for dedicated Google users, but not so good for folks who rely on competing calendar and contacts services from, say, Yahoo or Microsoft. Future Android phones may not be so tightly tied to Google services, but the G1 is.

It also can’t synchronize any data at all directly with a PC or Mac. For instance, it can’t sync with Microsoft Outlook or Windows Media Player on a PC, with Apple’s iCal or Address Book programs on a Mac, or with iTunes on either Windows or the Mac. It has no PC-based synchronization software of its own, and it offers no way to automatically back up your settings, music, applications, videos or photos, either to a computer or to an online repository, though Google says it plans to add a backup feature.

To get Outlook or iCal data onto the G1, you must install add-on software. To get your songs, videos and photos onto the G1, you must plug the phone, or its memory card, into your computer and manually move the files over.

Overall, I found the G1’s user interface inferior to the iPhone’s. It lacks the iPhone’s ability to flick between multiple pictures and Web pages, or to zoom in and zoom out of a photo or Web page by simply using two fingers to “pinch” or expand the image. It also doesn’t automatically change the orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape simply by turning the phone.

Further, many common controls that are easily visible on the iPhone can be accessed on the G1 only by pressing a menu button or by using keyboard shortcuts you have to memorize. Examples are stopping the loading of a Web page or moving forward to the next Web page.

There’s also no on-screen keyboard even for quick tasks, such as typing Web addresses, so you’re constantly having to turn the phone and open the physical keyboard, which quickly becomes a pain.

The G1 also is a greatly inferior multimedia device when compared with the iPhone. Its music player, while adequate, isn’t as nice as the built-in iPod on the iPhone. And it lacks a video player altogether, though a rudimentary one can be downloaded from the Market. The G1 does come with a program for buying songs from Amazon, which worked well in my tests.

And then there’s the network. Despite all the troubles AT&T has experienced with its fast 3G network, which is still being built out, that company has 3G service for the iPhone and other devices in 320 U.S. metro areas. By contrast, T-Mobile offers 3G in just 20 U.S. metro areas. Eight more cities are due to come online by year end, which will still leave T-Mobile’s 3G coverage far behind that of AT&T and Verizon, which will soon introduce its own iPhone competitor, the BlackBerry Storm.

I did 40 speed tests comparing the G1 and the iPhone to see how fast they could download a Web page over 3G. The tests, conducted in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Washington, D.C., showed the iPhone to be consistently faster, by an average of between 50 and 100 kilobytes per second, even though T-Mobile’s network was carrying much less traffic than AT&T’s.

Overall, the G1 is a very good first effort, and a godsend for people who prefer physical keyboards or T-Mobile but want to be part of the new world of powerful pocket computers.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:02 am

Review: T-Mobile G1

I will keep this review short and straight to the point, folks. You know how Google likes to keep things in Beta for years and years? Well, Android is no different. Like many of you I was excited at the prospect of a new OS to muscle it’s way in and take down the iPhone, but I’m afraid Android is not it – at least not yet. The OS actually isn’t that bad, but it does have its issues and those cannot be overlooked. Unfortunately it’s the hardware that will be Android’s folly this go around until the other manufacturers can churn out some better goods.

Let’s start with the hardware.

The Good

The variety of input mechanisms is superb. The keyboard is quite responsive and laid out very well. It’s almost on par with the Sidekick keyboards and we all know those are the gold standard. The trackball has a nice tactile feel to it and I especially like that it’s dark grey, so it won’t show dirt and grime over time. But it remains to be seen whether dust, dirt and anything else that can get into it will affect its performance. The touch-screen is nice and bright and quite responsive. It’s not as big as the iPhone screen, but it gets the job done.

The camera works great and takes decent photos when there’s enough light, but in low light situations it stinks and that’s to be expected. It fires up rather quickly when you tap the hard key firmly, but a quick tap won’t do anything for you, so make sure you give it a good push.

I wasn’t keen on the placement of the speaker when I first saw the G1, but it’s a heck of a lot better than being placed along the bottom of the phone like the iPhone. Being super loud isn’t always a good thing but audio quality on the G1 doesn’t deteriorate when it’s at full volume. It’s still just a speaker on a phone, but it’s loud and crisp. Even when it’s placed speaker side down on a table the audio doesn’t get muffled. I’m actually listening to Bob Marley’s Legend while writing this review and it sounds great (speaker side down).

Call quality is relatively clear on both ends and does pretty well out on the streets. It’s par for the course. Nothing great but not terribly bad.

The screen’s hinge is rather strange, but it works. Greg and I are both heavy users of the Helio Ocean, so we know a good hinge when we see one and HTC did very well with this. It slides open and out and does not “fold” like most smartphones. It’s much more similar to the TK than anything else.

The Bad

My biggest gripe with the G1 is that the GPS does not work. I thought maybe it was because I lived in Manhattan, but my iPhone never has a problem finding me within seconds and neither does my T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve (no GPS but at least I’m within a few hundred yards based on cell tower triangulation). Regardless of whether or not I enable the GPS satellites, I’m never where I’m supposed to be. And if it does manage to find me, it immediately drops me off two or three blocks away. Even on my way to JFK earlier in the week, I thought there would be enough exposed sky for it to accurately locate me. No dice. It stinks and turning on the GPS satellites drain the battery like nobody’s business, which brings me to my next point.

If you thought the battery life on the iPhone 3G was bad then you haven’t had to deal with a G1. The first day I had it I managed to kill it within six hours and I was just cruising the Web (medium heavy), sending/receiving e-mails and getting used to the device. I figured it needed a drain and a full charge overnight to cure itself, but I woke up the next day and did some light Web browsing, checked a few e-mails and attempted to locate myself via GPS for 10-15 minutes and the battery drained down to 7x percent within an hour. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I used it as much as I do my BlackBerry or iP3G. The battery life is atrocious. It drops 5-10 percent after 30 minutes of unplugging it and not even doing anything.

While the keyboard rocks that hip with the hard buttons makes it extremely awkward on your right hand and I still haven’t found a comfortable way to hold the device and type on it. I’m sure with time it’s something I could get used to, but I shouldn’t have to. Seriously, who gave this design the green light? It reminds of the Wing and Tilt, but a fugly mishmash of the two. It’s huge and that section with the hard keys is angled up making it uncomfortable to put in the front pocket of my jeans. And I’m no hipster wearing skinny jeans. I see the Touch series and wonder why something like that wasn’t used for the G1.

Now on to Android.

The overall UI is clean and easy to figure out. I hate making comparisons to the iPhone, but Android does a good job in this area. The layout is similar, but with smaller icons, which could look a lot better. I can’t really say that Android is good or bad, but my initial reaction was that it seemed to be slapped together last second and held together by duct tape. It’s not as buggy as the iPhone first was but it looks and feels archaic.

Before I go on a rampage I will point out the few little gems that Android has to offer. The notifications bar is a nice touch and keeps me up to date on what’s going on and it’s easy enough to access by swiping from the top of the screen down. The variety of inputs can be confusing at times and I barely remembered that the menu hard key was there, but it’s something you just have to get used to. It gets much easier and you can whip through the device rather quickly once that happens.

The ability to add things to the home screen was also a nice touch like shortcuts. Having folders that I can dump certain apps like games into is convenient and takes up less real estate.

A minute detail that many might overlook that I found quite useful was the status menu for the device to see vitals like battery level and signal strength. I just wish I could make a shortcut for it to put on my home screen.

Now here’s the bad (and good)

Gmail
-Inability to have more than one Gmail account linked to the device. I know it would throw off everything else linked to it like the calendar and contacts, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask to have the option of switching back and forth.
-Surprisingly not as polished as the BlackBerry Gmail app, but everything is more streamlined. Depends on the user, I suppose.
-Digging through menus isn’t fun when you just want to spam an email. Not being able to trash your entire spam folder is also a negative.
-Despite the aforementioned quibbles Gmail on Android works and it works well.

Google Maps

-If the GPS would actually work I might shower Maps with flowers, puppies and praise, but it doesn’t so I won’t.
-Street View is phenomenal, but it shows me locations that are nowhere near where I am or where I want to go. Maybe it’s because the GPS doesn’t work, I don’t know.
-The compass (you have to download the app Spare Parts to even get it) in Maps that I thought would kick ass was underwhelming and it’s hard to tell which direction it’s pointing you.
-The entire app is underwhelming due to the non-working GPS and when it is able to locate me it’s slow to update.

Google Calendar
-It works, but it takes a while for things to sync.
-The home screen icon should reflect the actual day.
-I’d like to see the calendar on the notification bar but when the keyboard is closed that wouldn’t leave too much for notification icons. It does show up when you pull the notification bar down though.

Google Search
-It works. No problems here.

Browser
-After using the iPhone’s Safari browser I’m spoiled, but the Android browser can firmly rest in second place among mobile browsers.
-Zooming in and out is a smidge painful when you’re having to tap the + and – icons, but like I said, it’s way better than every other browser on the market except for the iPhone.
-Eight separate browsers should be enough for anyone.

YouTube
-It’s not as polished as the iPhone’s YouTube app, which is appalling, but it works.
-You can also comment on each video’s direct page, but do we really care about that?

The Market
-I cannot give this a fair review because the apps that are currently available are not very good. But Namco’s Pac Man is FREE! Rejoice!
-The whole barcode scanner app is lame. Comparing the price of items doesn’t locate local pricing for me and I don’t care how much a bottle of Jack costs online. Maybe it’s because my GPS wasn’t working. Who knows?
-Deleting applications is far more difficult than it needs to be. When you hold down on an icon from the home screen the tab at the bottom displays a trash can which you would think is actually a trash can, but it’s not. It’s a receptacle where all your apps are stored. You must delete apps from inside the Market. Fail.
-I’m sure with time the Market will get better, but right now it’s nothing to swoon over.

The Network
T-Mobile’s 3G network is strong in the markets that it is currently deployed in. I’ve had great coverage in NYC, SF and Chicago thus far and have had less switching between EDGE and 3G than on the iPhone 3G. Download speeds are comparable to that of AT&T’s network and I didn’t drop any calls. Oh, and the actual phone works great.

Other gripes
Did they choose black as a background just because the iPhone uses white (grey/blue)? From the home page everything looks vibrant but once you jump into settings or IM or anything then it turns dark and dreary. At least let us change the themes or something. Beyond the home page it’s an ugly and unpleasant experience.

Conclusion
If you’ve been waiting for Android then I suggest you keep waiting. The overall OS seems to be held together by duct tape and needs a lot of work. Apple focuses on the minute details to enrich the overall experience for iPhone users and Android could learn a lesson or ten from it. The hardware design is dated and while the touch-screen and keyboard are great you can’t just forget about the wretched battery life, horrible GPS and the overall ergonomics of it. I wish the G1 were better in every respect because I don’t think the iPhone is that great, but I find myself wishing it were more like it. It’s the best alternative to the iPhone, but it’s just not there yet.

CrunchBase Information

Android

Information provided by CrunchBase

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Oct. 16, 1916: Sanger Stakes Everything on Birth Control

1916: The first birth control clinic in the United States opens for business in New York City . Margaret Sanger, founder of the American Birth Control League (now Planned Parenthood), established her clinic in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn at 46 Amboy St. It took the cops nine days to figure out what was going on before they raided the joint and arrested her. Sanger, whose activism was well known from her column, "What Every Girl Should Know" in the New York Call, was charged with maintaining a public nuisance and jailed for a month. Released, Sanger reopened her clinic and got jugged again. Sanger's clinic stood in defiance of the Comstock Act, passed in 1873, which banned birth control outright and made it a crime to send contraceptives through the mail. Sanger's defiance brought the legal system down on her head, forcing her to flee the country at one point to avoid prosecution. (Happily, she fled to Europe, where she learned a whole lot more about contraception and the politics of sexuality.) Sanger saw birth control not only as a woman's issue but as a class issue. Although contraception was technically illegal for everyone, it was widely known that wealthy Americans practiced it freely, obtaining their devices — condoms and spermicidal jelly, mostly — from abroad. In 1938, with Sanger once again forcing the issue in court, a judge lifted the federal ban on birth control devices. This, in effect, ended the Comstock era. Almost immediately,...

Wired.com

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Quantum Cryptography: As Awesome As It Is Pointless

Quantum cryptography is back in the news, and the basic idea is still unbelievably cool, in theory, and nearly useless in real life. The idea behind quantum crypto is that two people communicating using a quantum channel can be absolutely sure no one is eavesdropping. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle requires anyone measuring a quantum system to disturb it, and that disturbance alerts legitimate users as to the eavesdropper's presence. No disturbance, no eavesdropper — period. This month we've seen reports on a new working quantum-key distribution network in Vienna, and a new quantum-key distribution technique out of Britain. Great stuff, but headlines like the BBC's "'Unbreakable' encryption unveiled" are a bit much. The basic science behind quantum crypto was developed, and prototypes built, in the early 1980s by Charles Bennett and Giles Brassard, and there have been steady advances in engineering since then. I describe basically how it all works in Applied Cryptography, 2nd Edition (pages 554-557). At least one company already sells quantum-key distribution products. Note that this is totally separate from quantum computing, which also has implications for cryptography. Several groups are working on designing and building a quantum computer, which is fundamentally different from a classical computer. If one were built — and we're talking science fiction here — then it could factor numbers and solve discrete-logarithm problems very quickly. In other words, it...

Wired.com

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Gallery: Eight Futuristic Musical Instruments

: Photo: Brian X. Chen/Wired.com In the future, cars will fly, cloned dinosaurs will live happily confined to zoos, and live concerts will feature musical instruments that use touchscreens, lasers and solar power. Bad news: We're not quite there yet. Your Chevy is more likely to undergo a biodiesel conversion than a hover mod. And the tech needed to clone and cage dinosaurs still only exists in Michael Crichton's crackpot cranium. Good news: Musical instruments that use touch-sensitive controls, contain lasers and use the power of the friggin' sun are already here. Here's a look at a few of these high-tech instruments that are creating music for our geeky ears. Left: The Tenori-on looks like a '60s-era Lite-Brite — only it's $600 and one of the most unusual musical instruments in existence. The board is composed of a 256-button LED landscape with a unique instrument programmed into each bulb. To play notes, you plot points on the dot-matrix as if you're drawing a picture. Bonus: The Tenori-on is so dead-simple, even those with no musical talent can master making music in mere minutes. $600, yamaha.com : Photo: BrickTable People love touching their gadgets (Exhibit A: iPhone), and the creators of the Brick Table are banking on that trend. Created by California Institute of Arts students Jordan Hochenbaum and Owen Vallis, the multitouch screen surface contains a camera that detects finger gestures and movements. Dragging your digits across the screen creates a...

Wired.com

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Gallery: Eight Futuristic Musical Instruments

: Photo: Brian X. Chen/Wired.com

In the future, cars will fly, cloned dinosaurs will live happily confined to zoos, and live concerts will feature musical instruments that use touchscreens, lasers and solar power.

Bad news: We're not quite there yet. Your Chevy is more likely to undergo a biodiesel conversion than a hover mod. And the tech needed to clone and cage dinosaurs still only exists in Michael Crichton's crackpot cranium. Good news: Musical instruments that use touch-sensitive controls, contain lasers and use the power of the friggin' sun are already here. Here's a look at a few of these high-tech instruments that are creating music for our geeky ears.

Left: The Tenori-on looks like a '60s-era Lite-Brite — only it's $600 and one of the most unusual musical instruments in existence. The board is composed of a 256-button LED landscape with a unique instrument programmed into each bulb. To play notes, you plot points on the dot-matrix as if you're drawing a picture. Bonus: The Tenori-on is so dead-simple, even those with no musical talent can master making music in mere minutes.

$600, yamaha.com

: Photo: BrickTable

People love touching their gadgets (Exhibit A: iPhone), and the creators of the Brick Table are banking on that trend. Created by California Institute of Arts students Jordan Hochenbaum and Owen Vallis, the multitouch screen surface contains a camera that detects finger gestures and movements. Dragging your digits across the screen creates a litany of odd, yet rather cool sounds. Just imagine what this would look like and sound like at your next house party.

Prototype, bricktable.wordpress.com

: Image: Tony Rairden

Rock me, Stradivarius! We've seen synthesizer keyboards play digital sounds of various instruments, but imagine how interesting it'd be to hear a violin playing notes from an electric guitar or a piano. That's the main gist of the Future Violin, a gadget in development at UC Santa Barbara. It also sports a video camera that can download captured media directly to a computer.

: Photo: Beamz Interactive

The Beamz system is a W-shaped device that consists of six laser beams. To play it, you wave your hands through the lasers and trigger preloaded sample sounds. Initially released by Sharper Image (before the company went belly-up), the device hasn't been a big hit, but it opens doors to a future of laser-controlled instruments. And one of the weirdest videos we've ever seen on YouTube.

$400, thebeamz.com

: Photo: Tony Rairden

Another prototype from UC Santa Barbara, the Boing Boing's design is pretty ballsy. Essentially an interface consisting of four sensor-equipped pingpong balls, a performer fiddles with sounds by raising or lowering the corresponding rod attached to each sphere, while simple knobs above each ball adjust pitch. The Boing Boing's springs create vibrations at lower frequencies than most traditional instruments, as a result producing sounds such as bounces, collisions, trembles, shudders and shakes.

: Image: Celemony

Ask a musician about Melodyne, and they might tell you it's an invention poised to change the music industry forever. Or they might tell you it's snake oil. Here's what it is: software that captures audio and then separates and visualizes each note. The big deal? It allows you to move notes around however you want. You'd be able to strum a single guitar chord and create an entire song out of it just by moving around the pieces.

In development, celemony.com

: Photo: Square Band

Developed by New York University student Rory Nugent, the Square Band is a wrist-mounted gizmo containing solar panels, a light sensor and a miniature square-wave synthesizer. Through a combination of arm movements and sunlight, you can control the pitch and frequency of the square waves. You'll look crazy when using it, but hey, sometimes you gotta throw your hands way up in the air and wave them all around like you just don't care.

Prototype, squareband.net

: Photo: Gypsi MIDI: XaOS/Flickr

No, this isn't a new device for autoerotic asphyxiation: It's the Gypsy MIDI. Strap this exoskeleton over your chest and around each of your arms to control any MIDI-compatible music-creation software or MIDI instrument. Check it: You can program a loop to play when you raise your arm — and a different loop when you lower it. It may look a tad freakish, but think how, uh, stimulating a live concert would be.

$1,000 per arm, sonalog.com

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Mr. Know-It-All: Scooter Eco-Analysis, Grand Theft Halloween, Babycakes Blog Posts

Grand Theft Halloween, Babycakes Blog Posts authorName= Brendan I. Koerner creditType= illustration credit= Christoph Niemann --> Dear Mr. Know-It-All I've always been proud of my scooter's great gas mileage. But a friend tells me its emissions make it no greener than a Chevy. Have I been deluding myself? Your use of the word always implies that your scooter is rather aged. If that's the case, then your contrarian pal may be right. Older scooters with two-stroke engines emit far more smoggy pollutants per mile than their four-wheeled counterparts. True, you probably get double the fuel economy of a Chevy and can thus crow about your ride's smaller carbon footprint (and thus smaller contribution to climate change). But your tailpipe may also be belching out 10 to 15 times more smog (nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons) than that Chevy, to the severe detriment of your city's air quality. If you switched to a new, four-stroke scooter, you could pop your eco-jersey a bit more. New federal regulations on two-wheeler emissions kicked in for the 2006 model year, and they're slated to get even tougher for 2010. Look for a scooter with a catalytic converter — the emissions-scrubbing gizmos aren't required, but they are becoming more common. My 10-year-old son wants to go trick-or-treating as Niko Bellic, the murderous antihero of Grand Theft Auto IV. Should I let him? Your son's familiarity with Bellic indicates that he's an experienced GTA IV player. So if you...

Wired.com

Source: Wired Top Stories | 16 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

The Mohs Scale of Hardness, From Talc to Diamonds

.nTable {width:100%;} /* b2dfee ffa4a3 ff908e */ .cell01 {background-color:#faa61a;border-right-width:6px;border-right-color:#000;border-right-style:solid;padding:4px 9px;} /* border-right-width:3px;border-right-color:#E3E3E3;border-right-style:solid; bdcbcc eaf1f3 ced8d9 bdcbcc */ .cell02 {background-color:#cbd422;padding:4px 9px;} .cell03{background-color:#000;color:#fff;padding:6px;} Datastream Talc 1 Gypsum 2 Fingernail 2.5 Calcite 3 Copper penny 3 Tooth 5 Steel 5 Glass 5.5 Quartz 7 Porcelain 7.5 Topaz 8 Diamond 10  

Wired.com Mister Jalopy interviewed the folks at Illuminati Motor Works, who are competing in the Automotive X Prize (1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles - $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car"). Here's the MP3 file of the interview.

Mr Jalopy interviews Illuminati Motor Works

Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2008 | 3:59 am

Have It Your Way: MyWonderfulLife Helps You Plan Your Own Funeral

Death is an unfortunate consequence of life, at least until science can prove otherwise. And while most of us would rather just avoid the subject entirely, the thought of having a sappy, cheesy funeral weighs heavy on some people. MyWonderfulLife, a Minnesota-based startup that launched earlier this month, is going to help you make sure that doesn’t happen.

You’re first asked to create profile detailing many of your last wishes, including the type of burial you’d like, who’d you’d like to have as speakers, and any music you’d like to have played. You can also upload a photoalbum that you’d like to have projected during the ceremony. If you’d like to get a bit more creative, the site features a listing of some of the more unique ceremonies users have submitted to give you some ideas.

There are also options for detailing instructions that should be carried like outside of the funeral (such as where to find the will, or what you’d like your headstone to look like). You can write letters to loved ones to be distributed after your death. And if you really want to write your own obituary, you can do that too.

After creating a profile you select up to six ‘Angels’, who are sent an Email with a link they’re told to click on upon your death (the Email is resent every 6 months so that they don’t lose it). Clicking this link takes the Angels to your MyWonderfulLife page, where they’re given the appropriate instructions. While many of the details listed are probably covered in your will, the site says that wills usually aren’t read until after the funeral, so some of your requests might not be honored unless you have another source of instructions.

As with all other “online will” sites, there’s a possibility that MyWonderfulLife will kick the bucket before you do, making this all a moot point. I wouldn’t trust any vital information to the site quite yet, but if you just want to leave your favorite playlist, it’s worth the five minutes it takes to fill out a profile.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2008 | 3:53 am

Playboy is getting out of the DVD business, going all-online

Facing rising ink and paper costs and a declining demand for physical discs, the world’s most recognizable skin rag — I mean, adult entertainment periodical — is getting out of the DVD business. Their online distribution system will be their primary method of content distribution, and other cost-cutting measures will be taken in order to return the company to profitability. Another sign of the times, I guess.

What shocks me is the small scale of the operation. Their entire DVD division is being axed and it’s 55 jobs. This is Playboy we’re talking about here! And their yearly revenue is around $70-80 million. Why, I could buy and sell them 10 times over! Actually, no. But I’d like to. Interestingly, they’re focusing on Playboy fragrances. Who wants to smell like… whatever that is?
[via HardOCP]

Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2008 | 3:31 am

That’s Right. I Just Threw A 110 MPH Fastball On iBaseball

SGN is definitely on to something with these Wii-like iPhone games. They’ve had over 2 million downloads of iGolf and iBowl. And tonight they’ve released the next game in the series, iBaseball (iTunes link).

Like the other games it’s free, and you use the accelerometer in your iPhone to control game play. The application includes applause and game sounds, vibrates when a hit is made, and supports left handed game play. You can also challenge your friends to play, asynchronously for now but with direct head-to-head play coming soon says CEO Shervin Pishevar.

More games are coming soon.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2008 | 3:03 am

Homes made from shipping containers

Treehugger has a collection of a dozen fantastic, recession-compliant homes and buildings made from old shipping containers, the packets of the sea. I really like this South Melbourne playground made from everyone's favorite big steel boxes, but there's plenty more to love on the site. Last year, I nearly rented an office in a building made from pieced-together containers -- it was a beautiful space, but I ended up going with something cheaper (a space in a rotting Victorian factory in Clerkenwell).

Shipping containers are cheap, plentiful and strong. I grew up surrounded by containers (and helped my dad design the Kalkinesque warehouse shown above for Northern Canada in the seventies) and always thought the interior dimensions too small, the floors too toxic and the problems of insulating and making them comfortable too challenging, but dozens of architects and shipping container designs have proven me wrong. Let's count the ways.

Crate Expectations: 12 Shipping Container Housing Ideas (via Consumerist)

Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2008 | 2:53 am

Transferring a Windows Media Music File to iTunes [Mossberg's Mailbox]

There’s no other major item most of us own that is as confusing, unpredictable and unreliable as our personal computers. Everybody has questions about them, and we aim to help.

Here are a few questions about computers I’ve received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability.

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Is there a way to transfer a Windows Media music file to iTunes?

If the Windows Media file is copy-protected, typically because you bought it from an online store that copy-protects its music, iTunes cannot import or play it. However, if it is unprotected, which is typical for files you created from your own CDs using Windows Media Player, iTunes can import the file and automatically convert it into a format it can use.

I would like to purchase an iPhone, but run it on the Verizon network. I realize that AT&T has an exclusive at this time, but is there a way to do this on the secondary market?

No. The radio inside the iPhone is incompatible with the network technology used by Verizon and Sprint. That cannot be changed by hacking the software, or replacing the SIM card in the phone.

I need to buy a new laptop computer and am wondering if you think Vista is wise at this point or should I still stick with Windows XP if I can find it? I only do emails, browsing the net and some downloading of music and photos. I am retired and don’t know much about computers.

Vista easily handles the tasks you want to do, but it will require heftier hardware to work at acceptable speeds, and, assuming you are used to working with XP, Vista will require you to learn some new things. If you buy XP, you can get away with a more modestly equipped computer, and you will be working with a more familiar interface. So, in your particular situation, I would suggest an XP machine. But I urge you to make sure it gets upgraded to the latest revision, called SP3, which bolsters the security of XP, so it is closer to that of Vista. Depending on your setup, this upgrade may be delivered automatically by Microsoft, but you may have to agree to accept it.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online free of charge at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2008 | 2:48 am

Australia's Great Firewall: just like China, Syria and other "free" countries

Andy sez,

In a move that seems to be happening without comment from the Australian media, the Australian government is introducing a censorship regime ostensibly targeted at stopping teenagers accessing online porn.

But rather than being an opt-in system, it's "opt-out". I use the scare quotes because, and this is most insidious part, you can't actually opt out - you can merely be placed on a alternative blacklist which, instead of blocking "content innappropriate for children", block any material deemed to be illegal.

The fact that it will likely reduce everyone's internet performance is secondary; It will most likely incorrectly block 1% of sites, and now what you are allowed to view online is determined and controlled by the state (although most likely quite inaccurately).

The rationale is that since they're setting it up anyway, they're morally obliged to block traffic deemed illegal:

"Illegal is illegal and if there is infrastructure in place to block it, then it will be required to be blocked — end of story."

I don't think I need to go into too much detail about the potential threat to our civil liberties.

People of Australia, please write to your MPs to voice your opposition to this.

No opt-out of filtered Internet (Thanks, Andy!)

Source: Boing Boing | 16 Oct 2008 | 2:41 am

FriendFeed Built The Ultimate Live Blogging Tool

What you see above is an embed of a special page on FriendFeed tracking discussion of tonight’s presidential debate. The page updates dynamically, meaning no page refreshes are necessary, using similar “long polling” code that makes instant messaging on web pages (see Meebo, eBuddy) work properly.

Friendfeed implemented the new feature tonight. Users can choose to view most of their FriendFeed pages in real time, including topical based pages.

Combining the long polling, real time view of pages and the embed feature also just happens to be a really excellent live blogging tool. Bloggers can leverage FriendFeed’s infrastructure during high traffic events like Apple product announcement and just embed the stream onto their blogs. Later, if they want, they can copy and past the content directly onto their blog for archiving and SEO. There are lots of other live blogging tools out there that do similar things, but they tend to…fail…badly…during big events. FriendFeed has been stable since launching, and seem to understand how to build a service that doesn’t go down.

Robert Scoble says “This is wild. It’s like the web has been turned into a chat room,” and I agree.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Source: TechCrunch | 16 Oct 2008 | 2:17 am

Circuit City’s long, cold climb

Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Computers, Networking, Imaging, Camcorders, Digital Cameras, Web, Websites

Circuit City turned in second quarter results that looked a lot like a black diamond ski slope.  As reported in a previous Gadgetell article, drastic measures had to be taken with a sudden CEO change three weeks ago.

Hopefully, new CEO, James Marcum, is a good skier.  Maybe you are one of the ones holding your breath about the future of the electronics retailer.  Curious about what impending changes are eminent?

If you are a Circuit City fan, you can relax a little, knowing that Marcum has some experience with moguls through work with Hollywood Entertainment Corp. and Ultimate Electronics.  Not too impressive, but he must be some kind of good to be hired by Circuit City as a director in June, promoted to vice chairman in August, and now to acting CEO in September.  Where can he go from there?

To conquer the mountain. Marcum’s goal is to focus on “consistent and successful execution in key areas that will drive traffic and build customer confidence.” And he has already gotten started.  In three weeks, here is how far he’s taken Circuit City: 

1. firedog, Circuit City’s customer support division now offers one-on-one in-store training through the Learning Lab. Make an appointment, take your equipment in with you, and they will train you on how to use it. Though this is only available at select stores in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Virginia, it is a start.

2. Partnership in Verizon Communications’ Expert Care initiative to provide Verizon customers with on-site customer support with firedog.  No more network setup headaches.
3. One Price Promise plan that guarantees you will get the same price on items online, in-store, and via phone order.  No hidden deals or sales.  If there is a special price, you, the customer, will know about it and you will not have to dig for it.  An effort to show consistency, reliability, and gain our trust back after a pretty rocky path, but will it work?

It just might. Stock prices tell us the trip back up the hill is slow-going.  But it is going: up to 0.40 today from the recent 52-week low of 0.35.  Marcum and the City have a long way to go though to get back to what things were even a year ago at 9.16.

See [stock information ]

Read [Press Release]

Full Story » | Written by Heidi Crossman for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 16 Oct 2008 | 2:12 am

Single Neuron Wired To Muscle Un-Paralyzes Monkeys

GalaticGrub writes "A pair of paralyzed monkeys regained the ability to move their arms after researchers wired individual neurons to the monkey's arm muscles. A team of researchers at the University of Washington temporarily paralyzed each monkey's arm then rerouted brain signals from a single neuron in the motor cortex around the blocked nerve pathway via a computer. The neuron fired above a certain rate, the computer translated the signal into a jolt of electricity to the arm muscle, causing it to contract. The monkeys practiced moving their arms by playing a video game."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 16 Oct 2008 | 1:55 am

Survey: 10 Million Not Ready for Analog TV's Death

Television broadcasters are getting ready to ditch analog programming and go fully digital in four months -- and 10 million U.S. households aren't even ready for the switch, a survey says.

That translates to one in five households who will receive nothing but static on their analog-only TV sets come Feb. 17, 2009, according to Nielsen, who conducted the survey. Nielsen also found that another 12.6 million homes own at least one analog-only TV.   

The termination of analog cable, called the DTV Transition, is a government-mandated action intended to free up parts of the valuable broadcast spectrum for communication between police, fire departments and rescue squads.

In order to receive digital programming, homes must purchase digital TVs and subscribe to a digital-cable service or satellite. An alternative is purchasing a converter box.

Not surprising -- Nielsen found households headed by less educated, lower income and blue-collar workers are least prepared for the transition. Also, older, white households are better equipped for digital TV than their younger, African American, Asian or Hispanic counterparts.

Quite a bummer. Hopefully these households at least have broadband internet so they can watch TV on Hulu.

How about you, Gadget Lab readers? You prepared for analog Doomsday?

Photo: rickremington/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2008 | 1:30 am

Cheap, Easy-to-Mod NetBooks Are a Hacker's Paradise

Thanks to their utilitarian design and low prices, netbooks are inspiring a booming subculture of hackers souping up their liliputers with touchscreens, GPS and unauthorized operating systems like Apple's Mac OS X.

As netbook sales continue to soar, more and more tech-savvy grease monkeys are dismantling netbooks to add fancy features including back-lit keyboards, GPS and longer-lasting batteries.

"I'd say it was a work of passion and love for computing," said San Diego resident David Winter, who has crammed three solid state drives into a netbook, upping the capacity to 128 GB. (Normally, netbooks only ship with solid state drives in double-digit capacities.) His next project? A laser espionage microphone that he plans to implant into a netbook, which will enable him to record sound from behind someone's window.

Netbooks may seem like unlikely devices to attract the interest of hardware hackers, who traditionally have been drawn to bigger iron. Compared to full-size laptops, netbooks are low-powered and have limited feature sets. But in the face of a broad economic meltdown, hacking a $400 netbook makes more sense than risking a pricier, full-featured laptop.

Netbook modding is becoming so popular, Winter has launched a netbook-modding business: Winter Computer Solutions, which mods customer's netbooks with GPS, Bluetooth, DVD readers or HDTV tuners.

Winter, who runs his burgeoning business on his netbook, is known for his remarkable netbook-mod stunts. He once sold an Asus Eee PC netbook sporting every mod you can imagine: A 7-inch touchscreen, Air Play for transmitting FM radio, an overclocked processor, a Bluetooth adapter — and the list keeps on going.

DIY Devices, an up-and-coming electronics store, is planning to sell a kit called the Aeeeris, which will convert netbooks into tablets. Though a kit makes the procedure sound easy, converting a clamshell netbook into a tablet is considered an extreme mod — it's not for the faint of heart. Available for a $60 pre-order, the kit includes a base, but a touchscreen must be purchased separately.

Another netbook modding nut goes by the handle "JKK." He hosts a web site dedicated to tutorials on netbook modding, and he says hacking mini notes is so trendy because it's generally very easy — even for non-engineers. JKK Mobile's most popular hack was installing a stylus-controlled touchscreen on an Asus EEE PC, which JKK said was simple enough to do with a $50 kit from a Chinese manufacturer.

"The easiest things can actually be done by anyone," he said in a phone interview. "You don't even have to open the whole device."

Brad Linder, writer of Liliputing, a blog devoted to ultraportable devices, thinks there's even more behind the netbook modding craze. He noted that the modder community is continuing to make hacking netbooks easier because there's a wealth of knowledge on the internet — forums, blogs and even instructions provided by Dell — discussing how to dissect them.

"It's not like people haven't been hacking hardware for years as well, but I feel like these little machines have become a paradise for hackers," Linder said. "While [netbooks are] designed to have low-income audiences, educational markets and kids, the people who mod these the most are nerds."

Making it easy, netbooks are all very similar in terms of specification and build. Practically every new netbook features a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom processor with either a 9- or 10-inch screen; the variations between models are very minor, which is why modding generally remains simple with the release of each new netbook.

And despite the general principle that smaller gadgets should be more difficult to customize in terms of hardware, Linder noted that their insides — such as hard drives, 3-G cards and so on — are getting smaller, too, so it's not too difficult to cram more features into these netbooks.

Linder, however, said he shies away from hardware mods and that he's more of a "software guy." His Eee PC 1000H triple boots Windows XP, Ubuntu 8.04 Linux and Mandriva 2009 Linux.

One of the most popular software hacks for netbooks is installing Mac OS X Leopard, Linder said. The process typically takes people a few hours — but that's not long compared to the amount of time consumers will have to wait for Apple to finally deliver a netbook.

"People were talking about Apple coming out with a laptop under $800 for the first time, and someone already made one and it's a netbook," he said. "I'm really impressed that the user community is able to accomplish things that even major manufacturers aren't doing."

See also:

• Run Mac OS X on an Eee PC
• OS X Running on Lenovo Netbook
• Tiny Notes Net Big Gains: The Netbook Revolution
• It Lives! Gadget Lab's Netbook Running OS X Leopard

Photos courtesy of David Winter, Charlie Sorrel, JKK

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2008 | 1:01 am

EBay posts 3Q profit, but outlook below forecasts (AP)

AP - EBay Inc. posted a third-quarter profit that beat analyst forecasts Wednesday, but its lower-than-expected fourth-quarter outlook indicated the online auction site operator is not immune to the slowing economy.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 16 Oct 2008 | 12:50 am

Review: Griffin Clarifi iPhone 3G case

I’m not the type of person who puts stuff in protective cases. I feel it’s like putting one of those leather bra things on the hood of your car; sure, it’ll protect the front of your car from rocks on the freeway, keeping it in perfect shape for when you sell it - but in the meantime, you’ve still got a funky looking leather bra thing on the hood of your car.

That said, I was intrigued by the idea of the Griffin Clarifi case for the iPhone 3G. While it’s primarily a protective case, it’s got a trick up its sleeve: the backside features a sliding close-up lens, theoretically allowing you to focus on items much closer than you’d otherwise be able to. So, does it work? Check after the jump for photo examples and more details.

What’s in the box:

• Clarifi case
• Screen protector
• Premium cleaning cloth

Putting it on:

The case comes with a pre-cut screen protector of the peel-and-stick variety, which I feel is a bit useless. The iPhone’s glass screen is damned tough to scratch - anything that does manage to scratch it surely won’t be hindered by a thin sheet of plastic. I read through the instructions real quick just to make sure it was the standard “Peel, stick, get out the air bubbles with a credit card” process - it was - and then proceeded to spend 20 minutes trying to get the screen protector on properly. No luck. Even after going crazy on it with a credit card, there were bubbles aplenty. Off goes the screen protector!

The case itself is a different story. Installation and removal is dead simple. It’s a two-part design, with the pieces sliding securely together. All of the side buttons are easily accessible, as is the dock connector at the bottom. It won’t actually fit in the dock while the entire case is on, but the two-part design allows you to remove just the bottom piece when docking.

The Lens:

Sliding the lens in and out of position is as easy as you’d expect. On the inside of the case, the lens is recessed a bit to keep it from rubbing up against the iPhone each time you slide it in or out of place.


Photo Examples:

In the examples below, the image on left is without the close-up lens, the image on the right is with the close-up lens.

Text, Shot from about 4 inches :


Small objects, Shot from about 6 inches:


Text, Shot from about 1 inch:


Distant shot:



As you can see, the Clarifi lens is most effective at a distance of a few inches. Once you get down to about an inch away, it gets a bit blurry - it still helps a notable amount, though. As it’s a close-up lens, it obviously isn’t going to be very good for your distance shots.

What I like:

• The case is easy to put on, and protects the handset well.
• If you feel you need screen protection, they’ve included a screen protector in the box.
• As long as you’re not expecting a macro lens, the close-up lens works really well.
• The lens is recessed into the case, so sliding it on and off won’t mark up your handset’s paint job
• Side buttons are easily accessible, as is the docking port

What I don’t:

• The screen protector is difficult to put on without getting bubbles
• As the lens doesn’t snap into place in either the on or off position, it tends to wind up somewhere right in the middle, especially if you’re just pulling it out of your pocket for a quick shot. When it’s in the middle, the camera lens is partially obstructed, resulting in a finger-over-the-lens effect. If it manages to dance its way all the way to the fully on position, it’ll turn your distant shots into a huge blur.

The verdict:

If you walk into a brick-and-mortar store, a standard hard case would probably set you back right around $20 bucks. At $35, you’re paying around 15 dollars more for the close-up lens. Is it worth it? If it has a purpose for you, certainly. If you find yourself taking shots of things closer than a foot or two on a regular basis, it’ll serve you well. I was really impressed at how well it worked at a distance of around 3-8 inches. If you’re looking for a case and don’t mind dropping the extra $15 bucks for the added functionality, I’d easily recommend the Griffin Clarifi.

I do hope that in a future release they figure out a way to lock the lens into place, at least when in the off position. The toughest case in the world wouldn’t survive the smashing I’d put on it if it made me miss that once in a lifetime shot.







Source: CrunchGear | 16 Oct 2008 | 12:46 am

I Visited Yahoo and All I Got Was This Lousy Stock Price [BoomTown]



Who let the dogs in at Yahoo?

It wasn’t BoomTown, for sure. In fact, I spent much of the day today at the Internet company’s Sunnyvale, California HQ, getting a preview of some really impressive and, more importantly, promising products and services in search, advertising, mobile and email.

It was heartening to see the kind of well-made Internet offerings Yahoo can gin up, even while it is in turmoil. I will do a longer post later on the visit–but, suffice it to say, some of it actually gave me hope.

Which is why it was a bit of a shock to me–and I can tell you to Yahoo employees too–to see its amazingly low stock price when I checked it during a break.

By the day’s end, Yahoo’s shares had dropped to $11.75, down 90 cents or just over seven percent.

Which means a market valuation of $16.3 billion. Which means just a little over two times trailing revenue. Which means nothing Yahoo has is considered worth much–not being one of the most trafficked sites in the Web with a monthly worldwide audience of more than a half-billion people, not having the leading graphical advertising business on the Web, not having the most popular online content, email, calendar offerings and more.

Which means Yahoo (YHOO) has officially dropped down a rabbit hole and is headed to parts unknown.

Thus, here’s the various dangers it might now encounter: a buyout by a foreign company or private equity fund, both of which would doubtlessly make much-needed cuts in staff and sell off businesses Yahoo is losing in; continued leeching of talent; and even more pressure on Yahoo management from deeply disgruntled investors.

It is now critical that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and his less-than-energetic board do something bold and decisive (Layoffs? A merger with AOL? An indication that it will dramatically streamline its businesses? Asset sales when the market recovers a bit, like selling off search to Microsoft?)

Whatever.

Because while the cool stuff Yahoo will be rolling out in the months is terrific, it comes too late to prevent what could turn into an unrecoverable financial tailspin its employees, customers and investors do not deserve.

And, after a lousy year, that would be truly lousy.


Source: All Things Digital | 16 Oct 2008 | 12:28 am

Xbox 360 Memory Upgrade Program offers freee memory card, inexpensive hard drive

FROM GAMERTELL - The new program will allow Xbox 360 Core owners to receive free 512MB memory cards or a $20 20GB hard drive so gamers can enjoy the “New Xbox Experience” 128MB download…
MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 16 Oct 2008 | 12:21 am

Jobs: Blu-ray Is a 'Bag of Hurt'






After showing off a slew of sexy, aluminum Mac notebooks on Tuesday, Steve Jobs said Apple computers still aren't sporting Blu-ray players to dodge extra licensing costs:

"Blu-ray is a bag of hurt," he said during a question-and-answer session. "I don’t mean from the consumer point of view. It’s great to watch movies, but the licensing is so complex. We’re waiting until things settle down, and waiting until Blu-ray takes off before we burden our customers with the cost of licensing."

A bag of hurt? Haven't heard that one. Mixed metaphor between "world of hurt" and "bag of kittens," perhaps? Anyhow, about two weeks ago Danny Gorog of APC mag plunged into analysis as to why Apple is avoiding Blu-ray adoption, and he points out that the format could pose competition to the iTunes Store. Because why would Apple want people purchasing Blu-ray discs rather than movies from the iTunes Store? Sound argument.

But I buy Job's explanation: It certainly wouldn't help Apple to make Macs anymore expensive in the face of a collapsing economy.  I do suspect, however, it also has a lot to do with not wanting Blu-ray to steal iTunes' thunder, and Apple's going to stall as long as it can.

Then again, like I said before, I really don't mind the lack of Blu-ray on a Mac: Seems like a waste watching such high-quality movies on a laptop screen.

See also:

• Hands On With the New MacBooks
• Steve Jobs Unveils Newer, Sexier Aluminum MacBooks
• Liveblog: Apple MacBook Event 2008
• Apple Teases New Notebook, Rumored Under $1,000
• Photos: Is This the MacBook 'Brick'?
• Rumor Says That Apple Brick Will Be A Metal Brick
• Apple's Brick: A Dual-Screen, Foldable Netbook?








Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 16 Oct 2008 | 12:01 am

Second Application From Big Canvas Available Through Apple's App Store

SEATTLE, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Canvas Inc., a Seattle-based technology firm, announced today that SmallCanvas, it's second visual life-logging application, is now available on the Apple App Store.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:59 pm

Go Daddy Celebrates Big Win in Battle Against Rogue Pharmacies

President George W. Bush today signed into law bi-partisan legislation that provides Go Daddy and other Web companies much needed tools to take illegitimate Internet pharmacies offline.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:59 pm

Confirmed: Microsoft Gives Up On MSN Groups, Hands It Off To Multiply



We’ve received confirmation that Microsoft is handing over the reins to its MSN Groups property to the social network Multiply. Microsoft is planning to release a new service called Windows Live Groups in November, and apparently doesn’t want to compete with itself. Oddly enough, Microsoft has chosen not to allow groups to transition between the two services, and instead is going to offer a migration tool that will allow users to take groups over to Multiply, which currently bills itself as the world’s 8th largest social network.

The rumor was originally reported earlier today after a series of emails were posted to a MSN Discussion newsgroup, and has since been confirmed by both Multiply and Microsoft through a blog post.

Here’s Microsoft’s explanation for the shutdown:

The natural question to ask in this situation is why we are closing MSN Groups. It is our goal to provide our customers with the most current and user friendly technology available today. We made the difficult decision to close the MSN Groups service as part of an overall investment in updating and re-aligning our online services with Windows Live. In the long term we believe that closing the service is the best way to continue to offer innovative, best of breed services that help you stay in touch with the people you care about. It’s very important to us that you keep the data you created using MSN Groups and that is why we have partnered with Multiply, so you can keep your group going into the future despite the closure of MSN Groups.

The Microsoft post also states that users will have until February 21, 2009 to migrate their groups over to Multiply, after which point the site will cease to exist.

This just seems weird - why would Microsoft abandon a sizable (but dwindling) chunk of users to an entirely unrelated social network? It’s nice that they aren’t leaving their users out in the cold, but why not just cut off new signups to MSN Groups and allow the legacy users to continue on in peace? Microsoft may appear to have made the gesture in good faith, but it’s likely that the company is hoping users will scoff at the idea of having to migrate, and just sign up on the new Live service when it launches.

Whatever Microsoft’s intentions, Multiply is sure to be happy with the deal, as it has just been handed millions of new users (we’re trying to contact Microsoft for the exact number).



Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors





Source: TechCrunch | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:59 pm

Cisco Demos Public Rooms For Telepresence

CWmike writes "Matt Hamblen reports that Cisco Systems Inc. has announced the first telepresence videoconferencing rooms available for public use. It demonstrated the technology simultaneously in four locations in India, the US and the UK Three of the four demonstration sites were retrofitted rooms in Taj Hotels in London, Bangalore, India and Boston. The luxury hotel chain will build the videoconferencing rooms for business and guest use at rates starting at $400 an hour in the Boston location. Cisco said prices will vary from $299 to $899 an hour at various locations globally, depending on the number of users. The rooms can accommodate from one to 18 people."



Read more of this story at Slashdot.




Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:43 pm

EA’s CEO on Spore: I hate DRM but it’s here to stay



It’s hard to exaggerate just how much EA’s CEO, John Riccitiello, misses the point here.

I personally don’t like DRM. It interrupts the user experience. We would like to get around that. But there is this problem called piracy out there.

That’s what he said at some hoity-toity media conference, referencing the Spore-DRM brouhaha. First, the pedantic tone—“there’s this problem called piracy out there”—doesn’t really help EA’s image. Second, and more importantly, pirates got off easy; the DRM didn’t affect them at all. Go check ThePirateBay (or your private tracker of choice) to see how many pirates are enjoying the game despite the DRM.

The importance of this DRM mess, the message to take back to EA HQ, is that DRM, ostensibly present to prevent piracy, did no such thing. It’s the people who went to the store and paid their American dollars who ran into all sorts of problems. They’re the ones who got bitten by the DRM, not the pirates.

And until EA (and the rest of ‘em) realize this, they’re gonna have to deal with more and more angry Internet mobs.





Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:40 pm

GOP Site Endorses E-Mail Smears, Posted 'Waterboard Obama' Message

The Sacramento County Republican Party is fanning the flames of hate by promoting debunked e-mails on its website, and calling for Democrat Barack Obama to be waterboarded.

Wired.com




Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:39 pm

Layoffs and Belt-Tightening Come to Tesla

The hottest startup in Silicon Valley prepares for tough times as the economy tanks.

Wired.com




Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:32 pm

Rare Wild Salmon Turns Up in Rhine

A Swiss fisherman made an unusual catch in a tributary of the Rhine River near Basel -- the first wild salmon spotted so far up the Rhine in half a century. The Federal Environmental Office said the female fish was photographed and then released to the river, Swissinfo reported.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:20 pm

FCC chairman backs use of 'white space' spectrum (CNET)

CNET - Companies lobbying the Federal Communications Commission to access unused spectrum known as "white spaces" won a big victory on Wednesday when Chairman Kevin Martin threw his weight behind the proposal citing findings in an FCC report that was also issued Wednesday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:19 pm

NVIDIA drops a little more info on the new 9400M


If you’re wondering about those new MacBooks and what exactly it is that NVIDIA contributed, they’ve got you covered. There’s not a lot of testing yet (we’ll cover it as soon as it happens), but it’s enough for them to say that the 9400M is a huge improvement over the last generation MacBooks’ integrated graphics. “Industry-Changing” is, I think, somewhat of an exaggeration considering laptops have been doing high-powered graphics and gaming for years, but the 9400M certainly is a good solution for a MacBook-type computer.





Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:13 pm

Nokia's Music Strategy Takes a Bite of Apple



Now that the launch of the new Macbooks is out of the way, it might be time for Apple to take a look at iTunes and its digital-music-service strategy.

Nokia, the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones, is nipping at Apple's heels and mounting what could be the biggest challenge yet for iTunes and Apple's dominance in digital music services.

The first of Nokia's phones, the 5310 XpressMusic featuring "Comes With Music," a subscription service that offers a year of free unlimited music downloads, will be available to consumers in the United Kingdom starting Thursday. After a year, users will be charged for the service, but will be allowed to keep all the music they already downloaded.

Over the next two months, two more Nokia phones featuring the new service are expected to hit the market.

Nokia's entry into the digital-music-services market could force Apple to change its iTunes strategy, say analysts.

Its focus on digital music is a bid to grab a share of the $3.05-billion digital-music-sales market and take a shot at Apple, whose iTunes is the market leader. Nokia is betting that it will add millions of new users worldwide for its new music service over the next year-and-a-half.

"There is no getting away from what is happening here, which is a strategic battle with Apple," says Mark Mulligan, vice president at Forrester Research, UK. "Apple opened up a competitive battle on Nokia's turf with the iPhone, and Nokia is doing the same now with digital music."

Agrees Adam Leach, an analyst with research firm Ovum, "It's a very ambitious play. If you look at the picture globally, there are very few companies in the world that have the muscle to take on Apple in this area, and Nokia is one of those," says Leach.

ITunes, which has had more than 5 billion songs downloaded through it in the last five years, has been at the heart of Apple's revival. The service, integrated into iPods and iPhones, has turned Apple from a niche player in the computer market to an industry visionary.

"Apple has a trinity — the iPod, iTunes and iPhone — that is almost unbeatable," says Russ Crupnick, digital media analyst with The NPD Group.

But now Apple has reason to be anxious. Unlike other iTunes competitors, Nokia's Comes With Music will be bundled along with millions of Nokia phones, which makes it significantly different from rivals such as Amazon.com and Walmart that only sell music and not the integrated device-music combination that has given Apple its edge.

That's not all. Nokia is also building a la carte music stores and has the big four of music rights — Universal, Sony BMG, Warner Music and EMI — signed up along with some independent labels.

This is especially worrisome for Apple because its iTunes store has seen little innovation in the last few years. "Apple is leading the market with an out-of-date music store that hasn’t been updated in four years," says Mulligan.

In response to Nokia's strategy, Apple may have to consider options such as expanding the "Genius" feature in iTunes that creates a playlist of songs based on similar musical tastes as indicated by the user, a full-fledged subscription service or iPhones pre-installed with music, says Mulligan.

In order to stay ahead, Nokia was forced to innovate due to changes in the cellphone business, says Mulligan. Penetration of cellphones in many markets in Europe and North America is reaching saturation even as operators are trying to move towards longer contract periods, which slows down the replacement cycle for the phones.

While Nokia continues to make new handsets, the company is also pressing ahead by launching new services to go beyond just handset manufacturing in an attempt to capture a bigger chunk of the global market.

"We are increasingly moving towards a new type of business where it is not good enough to be a hardware or service provider anymore," Trevor Madigan, Nokia's manager of entertainment and communities in the Americas region, told Wired.com. "You have to have more than the sum of the parts."

Earlier this month, it had a splashy launch in the United Kingdom for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The device, priced at €279, is expected to start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2008. Two other Nokia phones, the 5310 XpressMusic (available prepaid through British website CarphoneWarehouse.com at GBP 130) and the N95 8GB (priced at $700), will also have the Comes With Music service.

“For consumers this means they bring the device home, enter the code in the box to register the device and then download as much music as they want for a year,” Madigan says. “The user keeps everything at the end of the year on their PC and can sync it with their phone.”

To burn a CD of the downloaded music, though, users will be charged extra. It’s not music free of digital rights management, but it is free for users who just want to listen to music through their PC or phone.

Nokia is launching the service first in the United Kingdom, where the digital music market is less developed than in the United States. By the first half of next year, it hopes to enter the U.S. market. If successful, Comes With Music will significantly grow the digital music market, says Mulligan.

Currently, the closest comparison to Nokia’s new service can be found in Denmark with telecom provider TDC. The company offers unlimited music downloads through its Play service, and so far it has seen more than 60 million downloads since it was launched in March. “That’s remarkable considering the population of Denmark is about 5 million,” says Mulligan.

Over the last two years Nokia has also made a number of acquisitions in areas including social networking and mapping services. Last October, Nokia bought mapping data supplier Navteq for $8 billion. The focus of the new strategy, however, is music. The market for full-track mobile downloads of music alone is expected to reach $4.2 billion by 2012, says research firm In-Stat.

Nokia's a la carte store, Nokia Music, has been built on acquisitions the company made a few years ago. In August 2006, Nokia bought digital music provider Loudeye and its European distribution business On-Demand Distribution (OD2) for $60 million.

Nokia says it will grow faster than iTunes because its music services will be launched globally. “Some of our competitors took five years to get to 15 or 20 markets,” says Madigan. “We plan to bring this to every major market region in a global way in the next two years.”

Roadblocks in Nokia's global domination plans include the U.S. market, where the company isn't as dominant as in Asia or Europe, communicating how Comes With Music works and building partnerships with telecom carriers.

"American consumers want ownership, flexibility and portability," says Crupnick. "That's what Apple provides, and while iTunes hasn't fundamentally changed over the years, it is a music vault for most users."

And while the music service itself will be free, downloading over the air carries additional charges from the service providers — that is, if Nokia can convince enough telecom carriers to come on board.

So far, the company hasn't announced any carrier as a partner. Though speculation has it that 3, the service from Hutchinson Whampoa, could be the first to sign on.

Ultimately, how successful Nokia is hinges on building partnerships with telecom operators, says Leach.

And when it does have those partnerships in its bag, Apple needs to be ready to go to battle.

Also see:
Nokia's Upcoming Music Phone Takes a Shot at Apple









Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:11 pm

Investor Feedback for eBay: Awful Seller. Would Not Buy From Again. F-. [Digital Daily]

The deepening recession is playing havoc with eBay’s now nine-month-old turnaround strategy. While the company beat Wall Street’s lowered expectations for its third quarter Wednesday, it also updated it’s guidance to better reflect “current business trends.”

And “current business trends” being what they are, that guidance falls somewhere between lousy and repellent. In other words, eBay (EBAY) believes its full-year revenue will fall short. And with a 1 percent year-over-year drop in gross merchandise value–the total value of all goods sold on the site–during the quarter, there’s little reason to question that forecast. “These are turbulent times for which no one has the perfect playbook,” said eBay CEO John Donahoe. “There is a high degree of economic uncertainty and turmoil in the business market and that is impacting consumer spending.”

Impacting eBay’s stock too. Shares in the company have lost more than half their value (54 percent) since April.


Source: All Things Digital | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:05 pm

USA Drug Partners With IBM for New Point-of-Sale System

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has partnered with USA Drug to design and roll-out a new point-of-sale system in 159 locations throughout the U.S. This upgrade will allow each store to meet new technology requirements and goals for growth. The agreement was signed in August 2008.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:00 pm

Greenberg Traurig Attorney David Weinstein Moderates Panel on Internal Environmental Investigations at National ABA Seminar

David B. Weinstein, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig's Tampa office, moderated a panel, "Internal Investigations: Ten Tips Every Attorney Should Know Before Starting an Internal Environmental Investigation" at the 16th ABA Environment, Energy, & Resources Section Law Summit.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:00 pm

Lighthouse Bay Resort's Palm Beach Makes Islands Magazine List of Top Undiscovered Beaches With True Escape From Everything

Lighthouse Bay Resort, an exclusive private island resort with nine luxuriously-appointed guest suites and plans for private villa residence sales to begin this year, has been recognized by Islands Magazine as a good place to experience the pink sand beach of Palm Beach in Barbuda, Eastern Caribbean.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:00 pm

Kaska and Hard Creek Nickel Reach Agreement

Hard Creek Nickel Corporation (TSX: HNC) - Cat Lee, Chief of the Dease River Band Council, Walter Carlick, Deputy Chief of Daylu Dena Council, Donny VanSomer, Chief of the Kwadacha First Nation, Dave Porter, Chairman of the Kaska Dena Council and Mark Jarvis, President of Hard Creek Nickel Corporation (TSX: HNC) are pleased to announce the signing of their "Cornerstone Agreement".
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:00 pm

Updated: BlackBerry Pearl gets some new colors

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile


T-Mobile has some new BlackBerry Pearls coming out today.  The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 will be available in frost, black emerald, and indigo.  RIM is not resting on its laurels with the introduction of the Storm, the Pearl Flip 8220 and the now slightly refreshed Pearl 8120.

What was once a very very drab and utilitarian device, the BlackBerry has evolved into quite the consumer-friendly device while sticking to its roots by being the phone to have if you want to do business on your phone.  This newest color upgrade looks like a play to get some folks buying BlackBerries this holiday season. 

Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:55 pm

Pioneer's XMp3 Is the TiVo of Satellite Radio



Pioneer's XMp3, which begins shipping today, not only plays satellite radio; it also records up to five stations at once. The player also has a 30-minute buffer to rewind and fast forward through live shows. It's essentially a TiVo for satellite radio.

Almost sounds illegal, doesn't it? Then again, it's the digital equivalent of recording radio with audio cassettes -- and that never got us in trouble.

The XMp3 runs for $280 -- kind of hefty, but about the same as an iPod classic.

Product Page [via DVICE]

Photo: Pioneer









Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:47 pm

Carbon E7 police car looks like Transformers prop; equipped with tons of gadgets



Carbon Motors, never heard of ‘em either, is working on a custom police car to catch all of Gotham’s baddies. It kind of looks as if K.I.T.T. and Robocop breed a Transformer offspring meant just for police duty. It’s dubbed the E7 and specific details about all the gadgets haven’t been released, but this short video shows off it’s bad-ass styling.

Allegedly, the car can sprint up to 65 mph in under 7 seconds via a 300 HP diesel engine and brush-off small arms fire thanks to bullet proof panels. The cars price range will be $20k-$70k depending on options, but with a 250,000 durability spec, suicide rear doors, and more LED lights than a Caddy, it seems worth it. Nothing like cruising the streets in style rather than in a Crown Vic, eh?





Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:45 pm

Cisco, Tata open public video conferencing rooms: company (AFP)

AFP - US networking giant Cisco and India's Tata Communications, in a move targeting businesses hoping to save money on travel, opened public video conferencing rooms around the globe on Wednesday, Cisco said.



Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:43 pm

RIAA Wants Its $222,000 Verdict Back

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA, unhappy with the Court's decision setting aside its $222,000 jury verdict over $23.76 worth of song files, and throwing out the legal theory on which it was based, has made a motion for permission to file an appeal from the Judge's order, in Capitol v. Thomas. Normally, only final judgments are appealable, and appeals are not permissible in federal court from 'interlocutory' orders of that nature."



Read more of this story at Slashdot.




Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:40 pm

Core Performance Center: A Different Kind of Gym



Mark Verstegen has trained some of the greatest athletes in the world at his Athletes' Performance facilities in Arizona, California, and Florida. It's the kind of place where you go if you're hoping to be a top pick in the NFL draft, but need to boost your 40-yard dash time. The trainers work intensively with these elite athletes, using Verstegen's techniques, which focus heavily on increasing functional strength and mobility.

So how do you take this experience with the best of the best, and apply it to us mere mortals? Verstegen has written books about his Core Performance method, but last month he opened the Core Performance Center, a gym in Santa Monica that blends his training ideas with some seriously tech.

"One of the key factors in training pro athletes and "achievers" alike is creating a path for sustainable success," says Verstegen. "If you peel back the layers and job titles on athletes and achievers, you will find what I call a "Red Thread" commonality--the instrinsic commitment to excellence, so ultimately the approach to performance is very similar."

The achievers that Verstegen mentions are the target consumers for the Core Performance Centers. "They're people who want the best in life and are willing to work to achieve it," says Verstegen. "To me, this includes busy moms, overscheduled executives: really any individual who is constantly asking "how can I improve?" Our job is to match their commitment, providing them with proven systems and specialists to ensure that they meet their performance goals."

A central part of the experience at the Core Performance Center is a custom-designed machine called the CPro (it's pictured at the top of the story). When you start your workout, you log into the CPro, and it retrieves your workout history, and the results of your evaluation by the onsite coaching team. It knows what your workout should be today, and it's ready to guide you through it.

But first, the machine asks you how you're feeling. If you're feeling good, you're ready to go. But if you say your tired, or sick, or injured, it asks for more information about what's bothering you, and uses that information to modify your workout.

"The idea for the CPro came from my years of coaching," says Verstegen. Every Coach at Athletes' Performance has an Assistant Coach working with them, whose job is to set up the next movement for the athlete, to record each movement the athlete has completed, and to help motivate the athlete to complete just one more repetition or work that much harder in a training session. The CPro accomplishes that same objective in the CPC: it demonstrates movements, records each individual's performance, and automatically adapts if a member is having a tough day or just doesn't feel well."

It's that level of adaptation that makes Core Performance Center so interesting to someone like me, who's been dedicated to tracking his workouts at a micro level. When you walk in the door, you put on a heart rate strap, and the system tracks every beat until you leave. Each repetition you do on the Cpro--using compressed air rather than weights for resistance--is measured for the wattage you produce. The effort you expend doing aerobic work on a treadmill or stationary bike is also captured.

And then all of that is looped back into your plan for the next work out. Basically, the Core Performance Center looks to replace the most time-consuming part of a coach's job--creating training plans--with tech, freeing up the coaches to, you know, coach.

"For us, the technology enables us to move toward more meaningful interactions with people on the floor during their workouts," says Craig Friedman, the Director of Methodology for Athletes' Performance. "It's like a really smart assistant coach."

But that sort of power doesn't come easily. "There are 18,000 rules in the CPro's code base," says Athletes' Performance CTO Jon Zerden. "It basically took us 18 months to translate the logic that our coaches would use to make adjustments into computer code."

Right now, there's just one Core Performance Center. But Verstegen says the company plans to open more in the next calendar year. If my soreness after a workout at CPC is any gauge, it's a super-effective way to get in shape, and the intersection of the exercise and information technologies is really impressive.









Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:36 pm

Obama ad in Burnout Paradise, mainstream media go coverage crazy

FROM GAMERTELL - Barack Obama campaign ads have been appearing in the EA Xbox 360 game Burnout Paradise. The ads appear on billboards in game, inform players about early voting and provide Obama’s website address.
MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:27 pm

Netbook Sales On Fire, Says IDC



There's no stopping the rise of netbooks as more customers have been springing for these low-cost, ultraportable devices in a weak economy and amidst sluggish growth in the PC industry, says research firm IDC.

"The proliferation of low-cost portable PCs coincided perfectly with market conditions," says Jay Chou, research analyst with IDC's worldwide quarterly PC tracker in a statement. "As more low-cost models enter the fray, a new pecking order may emerge among vendors."

Overall, worldwide PC shipments were up 15.8% to about 80 million, though that came in slightly less than projected.

HP was the worldwide leader during the quarter with about 19% share of the market though the economic downturn has affected the company's overall performance, said IDC. Dell ranked second though it trailed the industry in terms of growth.

Acer was the surprise in the pack as its growth in emerging regions and the portables market helped it bag the number three position in terms of market share.

Now for the bad news: The weak economy has led to tightening of IT budgets and that may affect PC sales in the fourth quarter. Consumer spending on electronics is also likely to feel the pain, says IDC.

Photo: Acer Aspire One Netbook (Aaronage/Flickr)









Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:26 pm

As eBay’s Core Business Hits Hard Times, Skype Begins To Shine



Although eBay beat its downwardly-revised earnings numbers today, its earnings call was filled with glum news for investors. (Full earnings slides embedded below). After three flat quarters, revenues declined 3.6 percent from the second quarter to $2.2 billion. Free cash flow has been going down each of the last four quarters, and so has the total value of goods traded over the auction and e-commerce site. eBay is leaning much more heavily these days on merchant-dominated categories like autos than on auctions between ordinary people.

Even PayPal’s revenues were flat in the quarter at $597 million. Maybe the $945 million acquisition of Bill Me Later will help reignite growth. Its classifieds business (Kijiji) brought in a respectable $250 million in revenues.

Another eBay business that is holding its own, surprisingly, is Skype. Revenues for the third quarter were $143 million. Although its growth rate is slowing, at least it is still growing, both on an annual (46 percent) and sequential quarterly (5 percent) basis. Its total registered users grew 51 percent to 370 million, and those people used up 16 billion minutes of talk time.

The annual growth rate of those minutes ((63 percent) is actually accelerating compared to the preceding quarters. And, most important of all, the number of minutes people actually pay for (2.2 billion Skype Out minutes) is also experiencing accelerating growth (54 percent).

Unfortunately, at only ten percent of eBay’s total revenues, Skype is still too small to counteract its overall decline. Maybe they can still sell it.



eBay 2008, Q3 Earnings
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: earnings ebay)

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0





Source: TechCrunch | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:22 pm

Today at Boing Boing Gadgets

Today at Boing Boing Gadgets our anonymous "sauce" ponied up an ad for the 20 separate editions of Windows 7. Then it was back to Infomercia for the denoument, as the now-free gadgetganda-spewers explored their freedom: a handheld Dreamcast, a pac-man bikini and a new Sandisk music player couldn't save them from Pippin Cray's zealotry and retribution. Not even a screwy speak and spell. Marvin, however, escapes to another reality. Speaking of reality, we also saw RjDj, a live ambient sounscape generator, a vintage-style camera that uses 35mm film, and the RKS Gig Stand, a folding guitar caddy. Joel explored the meaning of the word "Gadget," and polished us off with a Horological LOL.





Source: Boing Boing | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:16 pm

Ecobee thermostat has a Wi-Fi connection



Here’s a way to control the temperature in your house from far, far away. The Ecobee “Smart Thermostat” has all the stuff you’d expect with a standard digital thermostat and adds a pretty nice-looking touchscreen interface and – gasp! – a wireless connection, allowing you to log in and control it via the web. It’s not super-duper expensive either, at $385. The company claims you’ll make that much back in under a year and a half with all the moolah you’ll save optimizing your energy usage.

The Smart Thermostat will ship in early 2009 but Ecobee is taking pre-orders. You’ll want to line up someone who knows what they’re doing to install the thing, too, as it’s “not a self-install device.”

[via TreeHugger]





Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:15 pm

Nokia Goes for Apple's Core With Digital Music Services Strategy

Nokia's digital music strategy, including its subscription music service and a la carte stores, will be the strongest challenger to Apple's iTunes to date.

Wired.com




Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:11 pm

Nokia Goes for Apple's Core With Digital Music Services Strategy

Nokia's digital music strategy, including its subscription music service and a la carte stores, will be the strongest challenger to Apple's iTunes to date.






Source: Wired: Gadgets | 15 Oct 2008 | 10:11 pm

WordPress Acquires Irish Startup Polldaddy



Automattic, the company behind WordPress, has acquired Irish startup Polldaddy for an undisclosed sum. The purchase gives WordPress an infusion of polling technology and seems to be justified simply on the basis that bloggers love polls (we use PollDaddy here at TechCrunch for many of our posts).

There appears to be a plugin rollup strategy of sorts underway at the highly decentralized blogging startup, one that will result in the absorption of features into the WordPress codebase that are currently provided through extensions. Automattic recently purchased Intense Debate, a small TechStars startup working on an advanced commenting platform. Further back, it also acquired Buddy Press, a project for layering social networking features onto WordPress, in March and Gravatar, a universal avatar system, last Fall.

Like Intense Debate, Polldaddy doesn’t offer its technology to WordPress publishers alone - and it doesn’t plan to phase out its support for other platforms post-acquisition. But we can expect both companies’ efforts to be driven primarily towards improving WordPress - both the open source version offered at WordPress.org, but even more importantly the hosted version at WordPress.com (with which Automattic can actually make money). PollDaddy has already been baked into WordPress.com for its 4.4 million bloggers.

Given the economic concerns that many startups (domestic and global) have in these volatile times, I’m sure that both PollDaddy and Intense Debate are happy to have found a home within a larger and better funded startup. The fact that PollDaddy is based in Ireland shouldn’t have much impact on Automattic’s corporate structure. As CEO Toni Schneider explained at a recent Startup2Startup event, Automattic has no central office and all its employees work remotely from home, only to meet up a couple times per year as a company.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.





Source: TechCrunch | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:54 pm

Hong Kong Electronics Fair gets showy

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Gadgets / Other, Green, Household, Miscellaneous, Transportation

While the day was full of admiring the tech feast of all the exhibitors at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, attendees were also encouraged to take part in a reception, opening ceremony and several product demonstrations.

Among the products featured:


• A Phonewatch, which works exactly like even the most current cell phone but you’ll have access to it all the time because you wear on your wrist.
• Networking Digital Signage is easily updated with a few clicks from your computer.
• Sub Zero personal cooling devices for indoor use including a car fan that cools, dehumidifies, humidifies, and purifies.
• Trinvo Talking Translator to aid you in speaking 12 languages.
• Ready-To-Use Battery which combines advantages of both alkaline and Ni-Mh being environmentally friendly, reusable, rechargeable, and retaining power capacity for long periods of time.
• MySafe, a lockbox with motion alarm.  This is small enough to carry with you and keep in the car for when you need leave your valuables in the vehicle. 

As more people are purchasing and using more and more electronics, the interest is reflected in the growth of the fair.  This year’s fair is bigger than ever, having to expand into an adjacent building in order to accommodate all the exhibitors.

The US is one of Honk Kong’s top five export markets and companies like Nokia, Sanyo, Samsung, Sharp, and Siemens help bring some of those products back here from the fair.  Radio Shack is also among the US buyers in attendance.  What new things will they bring back for us to play with?

Read Product Demo and Launch Pad

Full Story » | Written by Heidi Crossman for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:46 pm

Do Software Versions Really Matter?

An anonymous reader writes "I work for a rather large software company and I am currently working on a completely new product. So new in fact, that the official name has not even been decided. I had assumed that the version number for this product would be 1.0 (at most). However recently I learned that the Product Managers want to release this NEW product with a version number somewhere between 5.0 and 8.0 because 'there is a stigma about buying 1.0 products. People assume it's no good.' This latest Dilbert-esque comedy routine nearly sent me over the edge. So to gauge my sanity against that of the upper Product Management, I ask the community: Do version numbers play a role in software decisions, or have product version numbers lost all credibility and meaning? Would the community feel comfortable buying version '6.3' software (and paying tens of thousands of dollars for it) knowing that it was the first release of the product?"



Read more of this story at Slashdot.




Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:45 pm

Your cellphones aren’t safe from hackers



We’re being told to be afraid of hackers again, only now they’re targeting our cellphones. But we use our cellphones!

Security experts at Georgia Tech said that hackers, those faceless but utterly contemptible malcontents, could soon turn their attention toward creating botnets out of cellphones. These botnets wouldn’t then be used to send e-mail and so forth, but rather would be used to buy ringtones from third-party services. So, if ToneCompany works in conjunction with Evil Hackers, Inc., the hackers could buy ToneCompany’s tones without your knowledge. Then the world economy collapses.

What this more of a problem is that cellphones are really only secure insofar as the phrase “security through obscurity” means anything. Once the bad guys figure out how to penetrate a Verizon Wireless or AT&T, what recourse do we have? Install battery-draining anti-virus software on our phones?

Theoretically, I guess, it’s a huge problem, or at least has the potential to become a huge problem. But will hackers abandon their current cash cow, attacking Windows machines, for theoretical gain?

And no, I’m not implying that Mr. Beckham is a hacker or anything; I just needed a photo of someone holding a phone, and Goldenballs does the trick quite nicely.





Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:40 pm

DivX making its way into Samsung TVs

Sometime in the near future, Samsung TVs are going to have DivX playback capabilities built-in. This should allow playback of the video format from a connected USB mass storage device or Ethernet connection. The certification will probably start with the top-tier models and eventually work itself down market. A handy-dandy front DivX logo should reveal wether the set is equipped with the video playback goods.





Source: CrunchGear | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:25 pm

New Grape Could Revitalize Wine Industry

An herbicide that is effective at killing broadleaf weeds in corn, but also annihilated most of the grapes in Illinois and other Midwestern states, may finally have a worthy contender.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:20 pm

A special message from Ringo Starr - no more fan mail after Oct. 20




You have just five days to send stuff to Ringo to get it autographed. Hurry, hurry. Don't get shut out. (Via Arbroath)





Source: Boing Boing | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:15 pm

Problems Voting in the General Election? Report Your Issue Here

Electronic voting machines crashing? Missing from the voter registration rolls? Use our interactive map to report the problem, and we'll investigate.

Wired.com




Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:10 pm

TechStars Startup Ignighter Raises $1.2 Million For Group Dating



Ignighter, the group dating site that is part of the TechStars class of 2008, has closed a $1.2 million angel funding round. CEO Adam Sachs says that the money will be used to expand its team (particularly its development staff), and will also be used for a marketing push to increase awareness.

Ignighter allows small groups of friends to collaborate on a group profile, where they can include photos and specify their interests. The site then presents a list of possible matches with other groups and helps them arrage get-togethers in the real world. The group environment helps avoid the awkward 1-on-1 situations that result from tradional dating sites like Match, and there’s less pressure - if you don’t hit it off with anyone, you can still have a good time hanging out with your buddies.

The site made its debut at the TechStars demo day in August with an estimated 10,000 users, and has since grown to 15,000 registered members. TechStars is a seed-stage investment fund that is comparable to Y Combinator and DreamIt Ventures.

The dating space is very crowded with some very well established players, but popularity has recently been shifting away from traditional sites towards alternatives, which Ignighter may be able to capitalize on. Also see Mixtt, a similar group dating site that launched at TechCrunch50.



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Source: TechCrunch | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:04 pm

Sex Offender E-Mail Registry Signed Into Law

As noted in Wired yesterday, tragedy in chaos writes, "Senator and Presidential-hopeful John McCain has managed to get a new bill signed into law, in the hope of ridding online social networks of the sexual predation of children. The 'Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2008,' as it is called, calls for a database to be made in which all registered sexual offenders must also register their e-mail addresses so that MySpace, Facebook, etc. can run current and hopeful users through it, and eliminate access to the offenders. Though a noble goal, this is not very well thought out in methodology. They are asking known criminals to be honest, and are expecting them not to utilize any of the free and readily available e-mail services that exist so as to circumvent the system. There is also a potential for the crafty sex offender to possibly cause false positives by just registering an address that does not belong to them, thereby drawing in innocent bystanders."



Read more of this story at Slashdot.




Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:00 pm

Even Web-Savvy Users Are Befuddled by OpenID, Study Shows

A recent usability study conducted by Yahoo suggests that OpenID is too confusing for mainstream adoption. A group of nine female internet users were left perplexed when asked to log in to a non-Yahoo website using their Yahoo-issued OpenID.

Wired.com




Source: Wired Top Stories | 15 Oct 2008 | 9:00 pm

Mozilla Releases Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 for Public Testing (NewsFactor)

NewsFactor - Mozilla's Firefox 3.1 beta 1, now available for public download, is loaded with new features that once again put the Firefox developer community on the cutting edge of browser development.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:58 pm

McCain To ACORN: You Are 'What Makes America Special'




John McCain used to like ACORN, back when it was convenient for him to do so. Here's a video of him heaping praise on ACORN.

McCain had no trouble fraternizing with ACORN in 2006 when their political interests coincided with his. Now, his campaign is writing e-mails in his name bashing ACORN as a tool of the Obama machine.

McCain To ACORN: You Are 'What Makes America Special'





Source: Boing Boing | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:58 pm

Ancient Skeleton Shows Proof of Tuberculosis

Image Caption: Tubercular decay has been found in the spines of Egyptian mummies. Pictured: Egyptian mummy in the British Museum. Courtesy Wikipedia
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:55 pm

Hacker Gives His Guitar Nintendo Wiimote Powers

Very cool: Tech-savvy musician Rob Morris hooked up his Nintendo Wiimote to his guitar and used the controller's accelerometer data to manipulate the instrument's sounds. Check out the video above: He tilts his guitar upward (Star Power, anyone?) to change the pitch, and then he moves on to crazier sounds by pressing the Wiimote buttons. 

[Hack a Day via Gizmodo]





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Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:53 pm

FCC chair eyes fallow TV airwaves for broadband (AP)

AP - The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday proposed opening up unused portions of the television airwaves known as "white spaces" to deliver wireless broadband service.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:38 pm

Red Squirrel Could Become Immune To Deadly Disease

Scientists in the UK have discovered that some red squirrels have developed immunity to a disease that has posed a threat to the endangered animals.Introduced to the UK from North America in the late 19th Century, grey squirrels are known to spread the pox, and while it has no affect on them, red squirrels who are exposed to the disease will die within weeks.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:35 pm

Warming In Yosemite Sends Small Mammals Running For The Hills

Image 1: Image Courtesy Mila Zinkova - WikipediaImage 2: At left, researchers Jim Patton and Les Chow set up pitfall cups for shrews at Cathedral Pass in Yosemite, and Patton overlooking Lower Ottoway Lake in the southeast corner of the park (Photos by Carol Patton)Image 3: A pika (Ochotona princeps) seen at Lembert Dome (Emily Rubidge photo)Image 4: A montane shrew (Sorex monticolus) seen at Cathedral Pass (Carol Patton photo)
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:30 pm

PDP’s Rock Band Stage Kit adds lights, fog to your home-a-torium

FROM GAMERTELL - Rock Band has become the most popular rhythm-based game by creating a party atmosphere and offering more songs than anyone can dare to name. We love picking up those plastic instruments and living out our rock n’ roll fantasy without the shows starring police cars and VH1 specials. We may… MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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Source: Gadgetell | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:19 pm

Linux Now an Equal Flash Player

nerdyH writes "As recently as 2007, Linux users waited six months for Flash 9 to arrive. Now, with Microsoft pushing its Silverlight alternative, Adobe is touting the universality of its Flash format, which has penetrated '98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops,' it claims. And, it today released Flash 10 for Linux concurrently with other platforms. Welcome to the future." Handily enough, Real Networks released this summer RealPlayer 11 for Linux, the first release for which they've included a .deb package, and offers nightly builds of their Helix player, for which Linux is one of the supported platforms.



Read more of this story at Slashdot.




Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:12 pm

Night-Shining Clouds May Have Metal Lining

A physicist explains why thin clouds hovering at the edge of space reflect radar.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm

Diversity of Fish Can Restore Coral Reefs

U.S. scientists say they observed significant recovery of an endangered coral reef when they managed the reef's diversity of fish. Professor Mark Hay and co-author Deron Burkepile of the Georgia Institute of Technology constructed 32 cages on a coral reef at Key Largo, Fla.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 15 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm

RKS Gig Stand, a folding guitar caddy

Although they appear to be slowly going off the market, the "RKS Gig Stand" looks like a nice bit of folding plastic for guitar players. The whole thing closes shut and then collapses on itself when not in use, making it easy to stash in a gig bag for travel.

If you can find them, they look like the go for $20 or so. I believe the reason they're difficult to find at the moment is that RKS Design is coming out with a "G II" model. (The same people who designed the KOR water bottle.)



Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 15 Oct 2008 | 7:59 pm

Blackbird, Fly: Plastic vintage-inspired camera uses 35mm film



The "Blackbird, Fly" is an all-new, all-analog camera from Japan's Superheadz that recreates the square images and down-looking viewfinder of an old Rolleiflex, but does so on 35mm film. Which I'm sure is fun and makes fine, interesting images and everything, but would drive me nuts. I'll make my blurs and smudges the old fashioned way, thanks: by being a horrible photographer.

But if you feel the need, the "Blackbird, Fly" is going to cost around $100. I'm sure someone will import a few for our Lomo-addled photographer friends soon enough.

BBF blackbird, fly TLR camera from Superheadz [Killian-Nakamura.com via Josh Spear]




Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 15 Oct 2008 | 7:35 pm

World's Smallest IPv6 Stack By Cisco, Atmel, SICS

B Rog writes "Cisco, Atmel, and the Swedish Institute of Computer Science have released uIPv6, the world's smallest IPv6 compliant IPv6 stack, as open source for the Contiki embedded operating system. The intent is to bring IP addresses to the masses by giving devices such as thermometers or lightbulbs an IPv6 stack. With a code size of 11 kilobytes and a dynamic memory usage of less than 2 kilobytes (yes, kilobytes!), it certainly fits the bill of the ultra-low-power microcontrollers typically used in such devices. When every lightbulb has an IP address, the vast address range of IPv6 sounds like a pretty good idea."



Read more of this story at Slashdot.




Source: Slashdot | 15 Oct 2008 | 7:25 pm

RjDj: Live ambient soundscape generator for iPhone, which is way more awesome than it sounds

"RjDj" is a new iPhone application that mixes audio data from the iPhone's microphone in realtime and plays them back out your headphones to create an electronic musicish environment. Different "scenes" exist in lieu of proper songs, each of which use the open "Pd" descriptor language to define what to do with the sounds coming in through the microphone. Your voice might be remixed into a flanging loop in one scene; another might use increased volume to change the melody of a song.

It's easier to watch in the video than it is to explain — and even easier to understand if you just download it and play with it. I spent a couple of hours with my headphones in while working today and just let the environment integrate into the soundscape around me. It was hard not hum or whistle little tunes just to hear what they would do.

If you've ever consumed psychedelics, the auditory effects in some of the scenes are very similar to the time-slipping, inverse cascading repeats that can be provoked by some chemicals.

There are two versions: a $3 "Album" and a free "Single" with just one scene. I bought the "Album" and haven't felt at all ripped off, but the "Single" is a no-brainer download. I do hope there will be ways to add new scenes into the program without buying a whole different application.

I can't wait to see what else can be done with these sort of modern smartphone applications. (There's nothing RjDj does that couldn't be done on Android or any other OS, I think, sans the accelerometer interface.) Walking into different parts of town, tracked by GPS, might offer up a different set of samples, for instance. Someone could literally build an interactive, evolving soundtrack that emerges from the city as you walked around. You could add an ominous percussion track whenever two or more units were within close proximity.

Exclusive RjDj Interview: Interactive Music Listening, Everywhere You Go [CreateDigitalMusic.com]
RjDj Album [iTunes]
RjDj Single (Free) [iTunes]



Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 15 Oct 2008 | 7:04 pm

Nokia N79 clears the FCC



The Nokia N79, which is essentially a 5 megapixel N78 revised with a keypad that doesn’t make your thumbs cry, has toughed its way through the FCC’s testing chambers.

Toting North American 3G, GPS, WiFi, and Carl-Zeiss optics, the N79 is one nice little candybar. With the FCC hurdles out of the way and the handset prepped on the radio front, it’s not too hard to imagine a North American release sometime in the coming months.

[Via Engadget]

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Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2008 | 6:08 pm

Monkeys Overcome Paralysis With Brain Signals

After playing a computer game, monkeys were able to revive paralyzed muscles.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2008 | 6:00 pm

gadget, a word

While the etymology of gadget is a bit murky, it's my unschooled opinion that its nautical origin feels the most correct: sailors' slang word for any small mechanical thing or part of a ship for which they lacked, or forgot, a name. [Etymology Online]

Michael Quinion points out that Kipling popularized its use eventually, having probably picked up the term on a few steamer trips to India from attendant sailors.

There's a semantic implication to the original nautical use that I find especially compelling, even if I'm reading too much into it: a "gadget" was something consequential enough to ship function to be desired by a sailor, but not so essential or common that it had a memorable name. It was the sort of thing you were certain would make your life easier, but by its very nature wasn't useful enough for most of its users to remember.

To quote another popular sailing adage from the 1850s: "That's fuckin' deep."



Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 15 Oct 2008 | 5:39 pm

Nokia finally showing signs of a coming Ovi Suite for Mac



After Nokia announced their Ovi Suite for the PC, most Mac users felt left out in the cold. Sure, third-party solutions were available as alternatives on a function-by-function basis, but none challenged the simple one-stop, one-click syncing/media handling of Ovi.

Looks like the Apple crowd might be getting the attention they’ve clamored for. On Monday, a “Macintosh Software Developer” job post went up in Nokia’s career section. From the post:

Join the Nokia development team to help us take our Mac user experience to the next level. This new and exciting initiative will give you a chance to become part of the Ovi development team. We work in a challenging and inspiring environment using the latest technologies to combine mobile, Mac/PC and internet user experiences together. This team will help bring enabling solutions for Nokia device owners on the Apple Mac platform, and we are now looking for highly skilled professionals with proven track record of delivering products on time to join us.

Seeing as Nokia has been claiming a Mac Ovi suite was “coming soon” for some time now, we’re hoping this job post is for the expansion of an already existing team, rather than the first steps of creating a new one. Furthermore, we hope “soon” actually means “soon” - if you’re not willing to drop $40 bucks for something like The Missing Sync, booting up Windows every time you want to sync gets old fast.

[Symbian Guru]

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Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2008 | 5:39 pm

Horological Machine HM3

This is a crazy watch. It's got three dials. One of the dials shows off the automatic rotor through a glass top.

It's called the HM3 Sidewinder if you buy it in bronze. It is called the HM3 Starcruiser if you buy it in silver. I don't know how much it costs.

LOL

Horological Machine HM3 product page [MBandF.com via Watchismo Times]



Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 15 Oct 2008 | 5:00 pm

Nokia’s viral campaign unlocked, is pretty pointless



Remember that Nokia viral campaign we mentioned a few days ago?

In that post, I said:

The obvious bet would be something involving the phone shown in the countdown (the 7610 Supernova) - but that seems a bit anticlimactic, and makes the whole omniscient phone aspect kind of pointless.

Turns out, it was pointless. The mystery product is the Nokia 7610, which was announced (with a launch event and everything) back in June. The entire campaign revolved around the idea of “Someone else’s phone”, emphasizing just how much private stuff is constantly dwelling on your handset. Which, as far as I can tell, has no more relevance to the Nokia 7610 than any other handset.

It seems like a reasonable amount of money was dumped into this. They plunked down cash for three actors (not counting extras), at least a couple of film crew members, a handful of locations, the creation of the site itself, and the plethora of content to fill it. All for a viral campaign (which nobody seems to be following) based around an already announced handset (which isn’t all that notable)?

Regardless, the content continues to stream in - they’ve even got RSS feeds set up, with which you can keep track of the trio’s most recent riveting SMS. It seems like an awkward attempt at creating some sort of LonelyGirl15-esque environment, except with 3 people and using cell phones rather than webcams; while it’s fun to browse through for about 5 minutes, I can’t imagine why anybody would care to follow this one.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.





Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2008 | 4:47 pm

Marvin says "Bye Bye, Infomercia!" (OR: "Taste the rainbow, you goddamn fruits!')



You know, even with flux capacitors slapped all over my dermis like the nicotine patches of your cigarette junkies, ripping yourself free of the timestream isn't exactly a frickin' lark.

How can I explain time travel so you PR Tapeworm Slurpee suckers can understand? Imagine pulling yourself inside out by your urethra. I didn't exactly undertake it lightly, but I felt like it was my duty to fulfill my destiny. Had my DNA not been scraped off the stains glowing under blacklight upon the bloated belly of Big Boinger? Had that same DNA not been matched nine hundred years later to the pink foot of Mama Battelle's squiggling broodling? And do I not rock right the fuck hard, right out of time? I do.

So I came to you and walked among you. I hacked your system. I squirted ice cream into your mouths out of the black, puckered nipples of your Black and Decker brand Food-A-Trons. I broke the DRM of your bacon products. I joined up with your Happy Mutants, convinced themselves to make love, not meat bombs. I tried to show you a world in which you read press releases not simply looking for things to buy, but to make things out of: whether a better life or a working Bowel Disruptor.

It really could have been pretty motherfuckin' A. But from most, the reaction was incredulity. Time and time again, I was mistaken for a fancy robot puppy from Sony. And then the bodies of my acolytes started hitting the slaughter room floor of Room 101. Fearing I was making no headway, I double checked my chronometric galvoneter, to make sure I'd got the right coordinates. And there it was.

Oops. My bad. Infomercia is Timeline Q. The world I'm meant to liberate is Timeline Alpha. So nuts to this scene. According to Timeline Alpha prophesy, my next stop is to wake up in an ion cloud somewhere in the middle of a Nebraskan cornfield, where I will begin my real campaign of great works. And when I'm there, you know what, fuck all this Jesus jazz. I'm just going to call everyone there a chimp and be done with it.



Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 15 Oct 2008 | 4:26 pm

T-Mobile ships some G1 pre-orders early, may start arriving as soon as Friday



With hundreds of thousands of G1s already pre-ordered, it looks like T-Mobile may have decided to celebrate by opening the floodgates a few days early. A number of users have reported that their order status has been changed to “Shipped”, with a tentative delivery date of Friday, October 17th. That’s just two days short of a whole week early, granting new G1 owners the whole weekend to strut their new toy around town.

I’ve played with the G1 a lot over the past few days. Unfortunately, that’s about all I can say on the matter until embargoes drop tomorrow.

[BGR]

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Source: MobileCrunch | 15 Oct 2008 | 3:57 pm

In Lab Mice, Gender Can Change Results

Most lab mice are males, but males and females can react differently to treatment.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm

World's Strongest Robot Ousted by New Champ

The 16-month reign of the world's strongest robot has come to an end.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2008 | 3:00 pm

Climate Change Can Grind Down Plate Tectonics

Given enough time, climate change can alter the course of plate tectonics.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 15 Oct 2008 | 1:20 pm

Lenovo Notebook Hacked to Run OS X

There's been a spate of netbooks hacked lately to run OS X but none have been quite as stately as the Lenovo S10. Our recent top pick in the netbook category has been hacked to run our favorite OS. Looks like we don't have to wait around until Steve Jobs sees the light and makes a a sub-$500 lappie.






Source: Wired: Gadgets | 15 Oct 2008 | 11:31 am
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