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Capcom gets its own Playstation Network storeFROM GAMERTELL - How does Sony say “Thank You” for your awesome productivity and quality of digital downloads? By giving you your own storefront on the Playstation Store.
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 20 Oct 2008 | 3:56 pm Sportvertising Digital TV - FCC Promotes DTV at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is turning to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to promote the upcoming nationwide transition to digital TV (DTV) in America. Hoping to reach...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 20 Oct 2008 | 1:23 pm ReMake It! kit turns wine corks into trivet Tiffany Threadgould's "RePlayGround" sells three fun "ReMake It!" kits that let you turn trash into stuff you can use: there's a Magazine Stationary kit that gives you stickers and templates to turn glossy mags into envelopes and postcards ($5); a Wine Cork Trivet [pictured] for $13, perfect for keeping hot plates off the counter; and the $40 Bottle Lamp, designed to turn six soda or beer bottles into a kitschy tabletop light. [via Core77]Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 20 Oct 2008 | 11:14 am Video: Steve Jobs addresses NeXT, 1990John Gruber dusted off these videos from the 1990 in which Steve Jobs gives a "chalk talk" to his employees at NeXT. There's plenty of interest: the slightly less cautious speaking style of a Jobs two decades younger; the apparent inability for NeXT to cater to a fledgling market in a fight against Sun (a market which sounds an awful lot like the modern Macintosh marketplace); the complete absence of any mention of the internet, despite NeXT machines' great networking capability. This last bit is understandable considering the time, but still very odd. Twenty years ago we were excited just to get computers talking to each other within the same building, never mind always-on persistent worldwide networking. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:58 am Probe heads to solar system's end - BBC News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:54 am Falling temperatures prompt freeze warning - Huntington Herald Dispatch
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:50 am A little more about Motorola's upcoming Android phone BusinessWeek has pried a little information out of Motorola about their upcoming Android-based phone, which will have " an iPhone-like touch screen, a slide-out qwerty keyboard, and a host of social-network-friendly features". Sources describe it as a slightly higher-end version of the HTC-built T-Mobile G1, except with a price point even lower.
If the first wave of Android phones all launch with similar hardware feature sets it wouldn't break my heart. My biggest fear with Android is that the hardware across different manufacturers will vary so much that third-party software won't work consistently across the platform. And for all the minor complaints about the G1's size, there's much to recommend a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for a social networking and instant messaging device. Motorola Readies Its Own Android Social Smartphone [BusinessWeek.com] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:48 am WoodWind: Netbook Covered in Fine-Grained Vinyl
Therer are many reasons to love this MSI Wind mod (although it is actually a Medion Akoya Mini, just like the Gadget Lab Hackintosh). The wood-effect vinyl has been applied beautifully, free of unsightly seams and bubbles. The effect is to make the netbook look like a 1970s Music Center -- it even has a pointless flourish inside -- the wood covered trackpad (below). Modder and MSI Wind forum member tankboyben has been asked if the trackpad works (that was our first question), but he hasn't yet answered. We asume it can't be made much worse than the unadorned trackpad (and tankboyben is using a Logitech Nano mouse there, anyway). He has further plans to retro-fy his Wind with stickers (in addition to the awful arrow-and-heart sticker on the wrist-rest)
I'm with him on the rainbow Apple sticker -- I'm looking for one for my own Wind (or Akoya). For this mod, though, I recommend something orange and silver, for the real 70s feel. But the real reason to love this tiny custom-job is the name: WoodWind. Check out my msi WoodWind! [MSI Wind Forums]
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:41 am Morning tech deals highlights• All-in-One PC – Dell XPS One, refurbished, starting at $554, shipped. Prices will vary depending on configurations. These reviewed well enough when released, but are now about 1/5th the cost. [Slickdeals] • Earbuds – The popular Sony Fontopia MDR-EX51LP headphones can be had for $20 at Amazon. Maybe toss in a $15 Leatherman Micra multitool (or anything else over $5) to get free shipping. [Dealhack] • Binoculars – Pentax Whitetails Unlimited 10x50 binoculars for $40, down from $100. [Dealhack] • HDTV – LG Scarlet 37-inch 120Hz 1080p LCD HDTV for $900, shipped. About $200 off others' prices. [Dealnews] • Headphones – Beyerdynamic Pro DT-770 headphones for $120, shipped. About 1/2 price. The reviews are almost universally effusive. [Dealnews] • Bluetooth Headset – Today's wWoot is the Plantronics 222 Bluetooth Headset for $15. Screen shots of Brash are below. More than 25 content sites have joined the Brash.com Network at launch, including: ArtistDirect; DigitalTrends.com; eCoustics.com; InGameNowSeriousWheels.com; Squidoo and MonstersandCritics.com. Content will also be syndicated from Time.com for national news; Rolling Stone for music news and updates; TheCarConnection.com for car reviews and news, SB Nation for sports coverage and CNET for technology information. Launch advertisers include Unilever’s Axe brand deodorant, H&M and HP. The new James Bond Movie “Quantum of Solace” is one of the top new advertisers on Brash as well. Glam says that the aggregated Comscore user numbers from the original content partners is over 10 million/month. Glam is growing at a health clip as well. Recent Comscore stats say 52 million unique users visited Glam Media sites in September from the U.S., and more than 90 million worldwide. Brash also includes a video channel (Brash TV) with content pulled from multiple partners, as well as what is sure to be a much discussed Brash 100 List and the Brash Hall of Fame 50 - “The Brash Lists include men across the fields of sports, politics, business and entertainment that are game changers.” Screen shots (and we’ve put more on the Brash Crunchbase page):
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:00 am Travelport GDS Achieves Key Milestone in Consolidation of Global Data Centre Operations to AtlantaIndustry-Leading Technology Platform Improves Some Transaction Processing Times by 21% LANGLEY, England, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Travelport GDS today announced theSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:00 am 2Large2Email Delivers Big Files in Just Minutes- Web Application Simplifies and Expedites Critical Business Communication - BRISBANE, Australia, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- 2Large2Email --Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:00 am Samplify Evolves Business Model From IP Developer to Semiconductor Supplier; Now Targets Multi-Billion Dollar MarketNew Class of Silicon Merges High-Performance Data Conversion With Real-Time Signal Compression SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Samplify Systems, Inc., ...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:00 am SQN Implements Parascript's Signature Verification Technology to Prevent Check Fraud in Brazil- Parascript SignatureXpert, currently being used in the United States, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, and others, now also examines signatures on...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 20 Oct 2008 | 10:00 am Futuristic shoe generates electricity to run iPods
First the awesome emergency shoes, now another shoe-related technology from Japan: NTT, the country’s biggest telecommunications company, presents sandals that are able to generate electricity when walking. Each step users take puts pressure on the liquid-filled sole. Two tanks are positioned below the toe and heel and connected via a small pipe. Every step creates water flows within the soles, enabling a small turbine generator to produce up to 1.2W of electricity. NTT spokesmann Hideomi Tenma told Japanese press that this level is enough to run an iPod without using batteries provided the user keeps on walking (there is no power storage function). The shoes were developed in one of NTT’s laboratories in Atsugi near Tokyo. The company aims at doubling the energy level to 3W (sufficient to power a mobile phone) before commercializing the technology in 2010. NTT is currently looking into collaborating with shoe makers to improve the quality of the final product. Tokyo-based Green House, a “Thanko light” of sorts and the company that introduced pig-shaped earphones back in June, today presented the so-called “Angel and Devil” earphones [JP]. The earphones, which feature a frequency response of 20Hz -20,000Hz and an impedance of 16Ω, come in five different colors for the devil part: red, pink, purple, magenta and of course black (the angel is white in all combinations). If you don’t live in Japan, you can order the earphones in this online shop (English) for $31 plus shipping costs. They will be available at the beginning of next month.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Oct 2008 | 8:57 am $1,000 For An LCD/Plasma TV Or $1,000 For A Retro B&W Model - You DecideBy Andrew Liszewski Listen, I like retro hardware as much as the next guy who has a closet full of old-school gadgets and electronics, but I also have a pretty strict budget when it comes to adding to...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 20 Oct 2008 | 8:54 am Jeremy Grantham: Reaping the WhirlwindI deduct 1 from my score for GMO's Jeremy Grantham new Q3 column for gratuitously mixed metaphors in its title -- "Reaping the Whirlwind" -- but it is still typically incisive and thought-provoking,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 20 Oct 2008 | 8:41 am CBS offers mashup for Web couch potatoes (Reuters)Reuters - CBS Interactive is launching an online feature that enables groups of viewers to collectively watch and interact with streaming TV content.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 20 Oct 2008 | 8:09 am Build a Cheap Media-Reading PC?tsm_sf writes "A recent Slashdot article got me thinking about dead and dying media. I'd like to build a cheap PC with the goal of being able to read as many old formats as possible. Size and power consumption would be design considerations; priority of media formats would be primary. How would you approach such a project?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:51 am Hold Your AAPLause … [Digital Daily]
Certainly, the decline in Apple’s share price, which has been halved since the beginning of the year, would seem to point to the latter. But other metrics suggest the company will still turn in a strong performance, even amid the current macroeconomic travesty. According to the latest PC vendor shipment numbers from Gartner (IT), Apple showed nearly 30 percent year-over-year growth in the third quarter, its market share rising to 9.5 percent from 7.7 percent. In the United States Apple’s share of the laptop market grew by 60 percent, year over year, rising from 6.6 percent to 10.6 percent in the second quarter of this year. Meanwhile, its share of the operating system market rose nearly four-tenths of a percentage point in September. Given those metrics and the fact that the quarter that ended Sept. 30 is the first in which the impact of the iPhone 3G will register on Apple’s income statement, it seems reasonable to expect a strong showing from the company come Tuesday. “The upshot is that even against a very bleak macroeconomic backdrop,” said Yair Reiner, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Company. “Apple should be able to continue growing.” Source: All Things Digital | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:37 am Review: a weekend with Dell's Inspiron Mini 9 Dell's netbook, the Inspiron Mini 9, doesn't feel like a compromise. Unlike the cheapest EeePCs, and even low-end UMPCs, the computing experience is neither frustrating or unduly limited. You don't have to check expectations at the door.
Of course, it is a compromise for those who expect it to replace a desktop PC or a high-end notebook. Performance-intensive applications like Photoshop will be painful; recent video games will be pathetic, should they even run at all. Day-to-day work, however, ran smoothly. Multiple browser tabs with a handful of idle apps and iTunes chugging away didn't become a trudge. Its combination of a 1.6 GHz Atom CPU and a gig of RAM built up enough steam to handle the basics. Other features include up to 16GB of flash storage, 3 USB ports, 100Mbit Ethernet, 802.11g and an 8.9" display set to 1024x600 pixels. It's about 10 inches long and 7 wide. I've yet to use the MSI Wind, which I'm quite certain is the equal of this machine. But it's also a little larger, at least in the U.S., and it, like Asus' mainstays, lack something else the Dell has: style. It's come a long way from the dull design that used to characterize its output. While the Mini 9 is no better (or prettier) than the Mini-Note, HP's extras, like an ExpressCard slot and 802.11n, make it much more expensive. The Dell can be had for under $350, though you shouldn't get any computer with less than 1GB of RAM. Moreover, the Mini-Note comes with Suse or Vista, both less appetizing than Dell's choice of Ubuntu or XP. Hacking possibilities also abound with the Inspiron Mini 9. Getting OSX on it is reportedly not difficult, and it has an empty slot for a 3G Wireless adapter. Though it is disabled, it's easy to snap in a generic Novatel WWAN card and get your show on the road. Vodafone plans to offer Mini nines with cards (and 2-year service contracts) pre-installed. Personally, I'd like it to be even smaller. Next to an EeePC900, which has the same-size screen and a dinkier keyboard, its swooping curves seem rather bulbous.On the other hand, it feels sturdier and somewhat better-made as a result. One caveat is the keyboard layout: it doesn't have dedicated function keys, and the apostrophe/quote key is in an odd spot. Later today, this machine gets mailed off, and I'm sad to see it go. Bought as a gift for my nephew and reviewed en passant, it almost stayed right where I wanted it: in my possession. $429 as reviewed — Mini Inspiron 9 [Dell] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:13 am Changing That Home Page? Take Baby Steps [Voices]By Miguel Helft, Internet Writer, Business Desk, The New York Times A few weeks ago, Yahoo (YHOO) began what may be its biggest overhaul of its home page. But if you are among the roughly 100 million Americans who stop by Yahoo.com every month, the odds are that you haven’t noticed any changes. That’s because the job of revamping the Web’s most visited portal page is fraught with risk. If even a small fraction of Yahoo’s audience doesn’t like the changes, the company could lose millions of users and millions of dollars in advertising. So Yahoo is introducing changes in small stages and to small segments of its audience at a time, all while soliciting feedback from its users. You could call it stealth innovation. The company’s goal is to end up several months from now with a completely different, and presumably better, front page–with its audience intact. Source: All Things Digital | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:04 am Tweet Me, Baby, One More Time [Voices]By Caroline McCarthy, Editor, The Social, CNET When we heard that pop singer Britney Spears was reinventing herself, we didn’t know it involved a Twitter account. But it’s true–go to the newly revamped BritneySpears.com, and check it out. You can “Friend Britney” not only on Facebook, YouTube (GOOG), MySpace, and Britney’s own “VIP” social network, but also Twitter. For obvious reasons, it’s not actually Spears doing the Twittering. But you can still get updates like “OMG!! 7 hours until Womanizer premieres!!!!!!!” (”Womanizer” is Spears’ latest hit single) and “Hey paparazzi…Rolling Stone cover rumors? Too bad you weren’t inside the shoot. Brit had a great time and was dancing around the set.” Source: All Things Digital | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:03 am Where’s the Money In Casual Web Game Development? [Voices]By Frank Washburn, Contributor, GigaOm For years, developing web-based casual games was little more than a hobby, a means of creative expression for game enthusiasts. Then advertising revenue started to reshape the casual gaming landscape–now, multimillion-dollar deals, flourishing startups like Mochi Media and Kongregate, and the attention of media giants Google (GOOG), Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) are the name of the game. Sustaining the stream of quality games to play is now a business venture in itself, and with ad revenue streams at their disposal, developers stand to make a real profit off of their work. But just how much money can these new revenue streams bring to casual game developers’ pockets? Source: All Things Digital | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:02 am Google Monetizes Start Page, Vocal Minority Gets Vocal [Voices]By David Chartier, Staff Writer, Ars Technica If you love something, set it free. Then, if you’re lucky, maybe you can figure out a way to make money with it. Despite what appears to be a vocal minority that is unhappy with the changes, that’s what Google (GOOG) may have finally been able to do with the redesign of its popular iGoogle start page. Announced on the Official Google Blog, the new iGoogle start page features a major UI redesign that allows for both traditional, boxy widgets and a larger “canvas” mode that can take up the entire iGoogle pane. A key aspect of this change is a shift from iGoogle’s previous horizontal tab navigation to a left-hand sidebar. Source: All Things Digital | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:01 am CrunchGear Week in Review: Squid’s Test Kitchen Edition
Line 6 releases POD Studio and POD Farm Source: CrunchGear | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Why Is Jerry Yang Still in Charge? [Voices]By Daniel Lyons, Writer, Techtonic Shifts, Newsweek Eight months ago, Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang had a chance to sell his company to Microsoft for $43 billion. He refused. Now Yahoo’s (YHOO) market value stands at $18 billion. This raises a question: Why is Jerry Yang still running this company? “Nobody knows this company better than Jerry Yang,” Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock says. “He put in place a strategic plan in 2007 and under extraordinary circumstances has been executing well against it. Jerry is the right person to continue to lead Yahoo.” Bostock says the company’s board has no regrets about the way Yang handled the Microsoft (MSFT) offer. “We analyzed the offer eight ways to Sunday, with advisers from Goldman Sachs and Lehman, and we determined that the initial offer of $31 per share significantly undervalued the company,” he says. “Not one of our investors encouraged us or suggested we should sell the company at $31 per share. Not a single investor.” He adds that Yahoo was willing to sell at a higher price, and that Microsoft, not Yahoo, walked away from the deal (as you’d expect, Microsoft blames Yahoo). Source: All Things Digital | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Power On Self Test: Can I borrow a cup of robots?
Photo: Striatic Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 20 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am iLike Teams With TuneCore To Help Artists Sell Their Music
Popular music service iLike has teamed with TuneCore, a music distribution platform, to help artists promote and sell their music as easily as possible. TuneCore (whose CEO thankfully seems to have stopped handling the site’s PR) actually has an intriguing business model. For a flat fee, TuneCore will help artists distribute their digital music to a collection of music stores that the company has forged deals with including Rhapsody, Amazon MP3, and iTunes. Prices vary depending on how many stores you wish to reach and if you’d like to sell a single song or an entire album, but they are very affordable and bands keep 100% of revenue (you can see the pricing guide here). While TuneCore isn’t introducing many new features with the iLike tie-in (it has offered the service independently for some time), its increased exposure makes sense for both sites. iLike has geared itself as a platform for artists to promote themselves on Rhapsody as well as a variety of social networks like Facebook and hi5. Giving artists an easy way to sell their music is the next logical step. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 20 Oct 2008 | 6:58 am Yahoo Layoffs Expected to Hit This Week
Yahoo started out the year with layoffs, and it is going to end the year with more. The layoffs have been expected ever since Yahoo hired hatchet men from Bain & Co. to come help with the downsizing. The exact number of layoffs is still not known—between 1,000 and 3,000 are the numbers being discussed. During its earnings conference call on Tuesday, Yahoo is expected to announce how many people it will let go. In addition, operating budgets across the board are expected to be cut 15 percent. In January, Yahoo laid off 1,000 people, and all year it has been suffering from a major drain of talent. But it still has plenty of employees—about 14,000. Getting rid of another 10 percent or so would have a meaningful financial impact by lowering expenses, but it would also lower morale. Not that Jerry Yang has much choice these days. We’ll update the layoff tracker when the final numbers are known. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Motorola, which is recruiting as many as 350 people to work on Android phones, is gearing up to make its first one:the Android Social Smart Phone. Last week, Android Guys spotted a job posting for the project, and now BusinessWeek has more details, including a mention of the Motorola job posting pictured at left on Monster looking for an Android application developer. If the people pictured in the ad to represent Motorola employees are any indication, embarrassing dance moves are a plus, but not required. According to BusinessWeek, Motorola is putting $50 million into its Android project, which is being run by a team from Good Technology, a mobile e-mail company that Motorola bought in 2006. The first phone won’t come out until the second quarter of next year, it will have a touch screen like the iPhone and a slide-out keyboard like the HTC T-Mobile G1 launching on Wednesday, but will look more like the Motorola Krave. It is also expected to be cheaper than the G1’s $180 price. But how will it tie into existing social networks? Already, the G1 imports your contacts from Gmail into the phone. It wouldn’t be too hard for the Motorola Android to import your friends’ list from Facebook or MySpace directly into the phone’s address book, and let you IM them and see their status updates and activity streams on your phone. Kind of like the Facebook app on the iPhone lets you do already, except that you wouldn’t necessarily need to launch a separate app. Is the idea of a Facebook phone or a MySpace phone interesting enough in and of itself for people to want to buy it? And, more importantly, can Android save Motorola?
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 20 Oct 2008 | 5:05 am You'll need a passport to buy a mobile phone in the UKThe proposal to create a British giga-database tracking every phone call, text-message, public transit usage, CCTV capture, purchase, educational experience, medical detail, plane or train ride, toll-usage, and other transactions continues to show its absurdity. The Times's David Leppard has noticed that the legislation will also require people who buy mobile phones in the UK to present a passport and have it registered with their number. Note that even in China, throwaway prepaid SIMs are the norm -- the UK proposal makes China look like a bastion of privacy and good government.Terrorists will just buy phones abroad and roam on them in the UK, of course. A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime. Whitehall officials have raised the idea of a register containing the names and addresses of everyone who buys a phone in recent talks with Vodafone and other telephone companies, insiders say.Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones Source: Boing Boing | 20 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am Key Statistics for the Australia ISP Internet & Broadband MarketResearch and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/89fa27/australia_isp_in) has announced the addition of the "Australia - ISP Internet & Broadband - Statistics" report to their offering.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am New ACCESS Connect Ecosystem Partners Promote Digital Lifestyle TechnologiesTOKYO, Oct.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am Ericsson Collaborates With Intel to Bring HSPA Mobile Data Solutions to Intel's Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs)Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) announced today that it is collaborating with Intel to bring HSPA mobile data solutions to Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). Ericsson is thereby extending its 3G mobile broadband technology from notebooks to a range of pocketable devices with various purposes.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am Comcast Media Center and Itaas Join Forces on Enhanced TV and Tru2way(TM) ServicesComcast Media Center (CMC) and itaas Inc., a leading provider of software tools and services critical for robust and reliable delivery of next generation television, today announced a joint marketing agreement that will advance application development and time to market for cable's enhanced and tru2way(TM) services.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am Photos of facepalming financiers The Brokers With Hands on Their Faces blog collects news-pictures of bankers, brokers and other finance types caught mid-face-palm. A sign of the times. THE BROKERS WITH HANDS ON THEIR FACES BLOG (via Making Light)
See also: Sad Guys On Trading Floors Source: Boing Boing | 20 Oct 2008 | 4:32 am Gallery: Under the Surface at Monterey Bay Aquarium : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comWater covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and supports some of the most complex eco-systems and bizarre creatures on the planet. Yet we only know about a fraction (really, it’s roughly ten percent) of what’s swimming around down there. But every day at Monterey Bay Aquarium, researchers are hard at work trying to understand what’s going on in the abyss. You may have been to the aquarium and seen the exhibit, but just like the ocean, there’s a lot more going on underneath the surface.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comThe aquarium is home to the largest jellyfish exhibit of its kind. Currently, Black Sea nettles, seen here, call this 2500-gallon tank home. The apparatus includes a circulating water flow that mimics ocean currents and keeps the nettle’s delicate skin from rubbing against the acrylic walls.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comBehind the jellyfish exhibit, the luminescent tank looks quite different. The massive acrylic walls were custom-made by Nippura, a Japanese company that specializes in acrylic aquarium design and fabrication.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comThe jellyfish in the exhibit are cultured on site. These dishes contain specimens in their polyp stage of life. The polyp stage of the reproductive process was actually discovered here at the aquarium.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comSustenance for the jellyfish is grown at the aquarium as well. Staffers create a mini-food chain by raising phytoplankton to feed brine shrimp, which in turn are fed to the jellyfish.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comIn the past, part of the difficulty in raising these jellyfish was due to containment issues. Bill Hamner, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA, developed the circular jelly holding tanks that the aquarium uses. All designs are open source, and the technology has been shared with other aquariums.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comUnderneath the exhibits is an intricate water distribution and filtration system. 2000 gallons of water are piped into the aquarium from Monterey Bay every minute. All seawater is filtered upon entering this system and sterilized when discharged. The result? Monterey Bay doesn’t get contaminated with foreign organisms.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comRoughly one billion gallons of water per year pulse through the aquarium. To handle this deluge, a full-time staff is on hand to maintain the plumbing. The large tanks seen here contain sand filters for water running to the Outer Bay exhibit, while the smaller pipes distribute both warm and chilled seawater to animals that require specific temperatures.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comOf the two million gallons of water collectively held in the aquarium, roughly half of it is routed into the largest display: the Outer Bay exhibit. The viewing window is 54 feet wide, 15 feet tall and 12 inches thick and was the largest of its kind when introduced in 1996. The exhibit houses tunas, sharks, pelagic stingrays, mahi mahi, sea turtles and the occasional great white shark.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comThese African blackfoot penguins have been on exhibit since Y2K and are a huge hit with crowds — groups gather daily to watch aviculturist Danielle York feed fish to the flightless birds. This particular species is native to the cold currents off the coast of South Africa. To keep themselves warm in the frigid waters, they have dual insulation: tightly packed feathers coating a layer of soft down.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comCalifornia sea otters are a threatened species and one of the most popular creatures at the aquarium. Rescued when they were no longer able to survive in the wild, all the otters are treated with positive conditioning, which enables the staff to work with the animals more easily when it comes time for veterinary exams and handling.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comOtter Aquarist Stephanie Cantabene holds the "Otter-Vater," a winch system that the staff uses to lift otters (comfortably confined to crates) from the sea level observation deck into an elevated otter paddock.  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comThe aquarium’s founder, David Packard (of HP fame), had a vision for his staff: Don't dwell on your success. Instead look forward to new challenges ahead. This philosophy is echoed in every action taken by researchers at Monterey Bay — a dedication to exhibit development and storytelling through the power of collaboration while inspiring ocean conservation.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Ext4 Advances As Interim Step To BtrfsHeise.de's Kernel Log has a look at the ext4 filesystem as Linus Torvalds has integrated a large collection of patches for it into the kernel main branch. "This signals that with the next kernel version 2.6.28, the successor to ext3 will finally leave behind its 'hot' development phase." The article notes that ext4 developer Theodore Ts'o (tytso) is in favor of ultimately moving Linux to a modern, "next-generation" file system. His preferred choice is btrfs, and Heise notes an email Ts'o sent to the Linux Kernel Mailing List a week back positioning ext4 as a bridge to btrfs.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 20 Oct 2008 | 3:57 am Intel's Moorestown Platform to Get 3.5G Support - PC World
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 20 Oct 2008 | 3:39 am For Those Who Need Help Picking a Car, There Is CarZen
Are you compatible with your car? A new site set to launch in a few days called CarZen aims to help you find the car that is perfect for you. The main feature of the site is a car consulting tool that asks you basic questions about the qualities you are looking for in a car (price, size, fuel economy, reliability) and then spits back a list with the best matches. CarZen is extremely detailed. You can narrow your search by brand, options (sunroof, power seats), cargo capacity, safety, or performance characteristics. Looking for a car with a high baby-seat score or on ethat is particularly easy to park in tight city spots? No problem. Once you finish answering the questions, which at times seem more like a personality test, the site generates a list of cars that can be sorted by best match, price, miles per gallon, or brand. If you are looking for a new car and don’t already know what you want, it is a good way to generate an initial list. You can drill down to get more details for each car. There is even a button to get a price quote, although that doesn’t seem to be working at the moment. (Nevertheless, the business model is to create a trusted research tool for car buyers and generate lead-generation fees). The site is still in private beta, but you can check it out by clicking on the “learn more” button in the widget below and then clicking through to the site.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 20 Oct 2008 | 3:24 am Recently at Boing Boing Gadgets Recently at Boing Boing Gadgets, we got our hands on Sony's all-in-one JS desktop and the new MacBooks: they're less serviceable than ever.
There was a super-skinny external Blu-ray drive; a plushie Mickey Mouse Transformer; laser-etched coffee beans; and an excellent space-suit crafted for a short movie.
John is intrigued by Lumix's tiny cameras with interchangeable lenses, Samsung's digital picture frames that work as mini-monitors too, and a Wiimote-enabled whammy bar. He rejoiced at RPG masterpiece Mother 3's fan-created English language pack.
Joel found a fantastic military surplus online store; an easy-to-read set of digital scales; a gorgeous USB interface for guitarists; and an amusing fake ad for a handheld microwave flashlight.
Rob watched shadow-trees grow from his flesh; found an automatic accordion; read about face rashes caused by the nickel in cell phones; spotted an RPG in a pedometer; and couldn't stop laughing at Cat vs. Blender Defender.
There was an OLED cellphone design; updates on Snow Leopard; a hideous wood-print optical mouse; the 2010 Toyota Prius; and a cocktail MAME cabinet that nearly—nearly—looks good enough for a genteel living room. Source: Boing Boing | 20 Oct 2008 | 2:56 am Graphin to Announce Evaluation Suites for CMOS Sensors With MIPI StandardTOKYO, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Graphin Co., Ltd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 20 Oct 2008 | 2:00 am Steve Beshear Responds to Internet Gambling Ruling - Poker News Daily
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 20 Oct 2008 | 1:59 am F-Secure Calls For "Internetpol" To Fight CrimewareKingofGnG points out F-Secure's Q3 2008 security summary, in which its Chief Research Officer Mikko Hypponen proposes establishing an "Internetpol," an international organization empowered to target and root out cybercrime anywhere in the world. Hypponen gives examples of why such a supernational force is needed — and these are not hard to find — but provides few details about how such an outfit could get started or how it would work. He does mention the wrinkle that in some countries malware writing, cracking, spamming, and phishing are not illegal or not prosecuted. Is an Internetpol even possible, let alone practical?Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 20 Oct 2008 | 1:53 am Motorola Readies Its Own Android Social Smartphone - BusinessWeek
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 20 Oct 2008 | 1:16 am Netbooks take Europe by sturm
Gartner and IDC are reporting that netbooks, those ultralight PCs everyone loves, have taken Europe by storm, hitting about 10 percent of the PC market. These mini-PCs are essentially a brave new world for PC makers who have been facing falling prices, profits, and demand in standard laptops and desktops. Asus and Acer are winning the race and many of the sales come through cellphone suppliers who sell netbooks along with WWAN service. via Reg Source: CrunchGear | 20 Oct 2008 | 1:08 am Oct. 20, 1984: An Aquarium for the Ages OpensSource: Wired Top Stories | 20 Oct 2008 | 1:00 am Report: Yahoo plans cost-cutting moves, layoffs
Read more of this story at Slashdot. While at the T-Mobile launch party the other night, someone showed off a little app called Seismograph. What is it? Shake the phone and watch your movements graphed for you. That’s it. No more, no less. Seismograph is one of those “because we can” applications that uses the G1’s accelerometer. What else could you do with this app? I would suggest turning on the Seismograph while you are dancing somewhere. Check out how much you’ve moved your moneymaker with Seismograph. You could see how smooth your car rides compared to your friend’s. The app seems like a test application to see how accurately the accelerometer’s movements can be tracked. Expect all kinds of apps that take advantage of tracking like a shake to shuffle music player, a pedometer, or an anti-theft alarm based on movement. Also, since the Android Market is completely open, I’m sure someone will use that accelerometer for “adult” purposes. Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » I am going be in trouble when they make things even faster than the cable Internet I have now. It is in the works to increase Ethernet speed from 10 Gigabit Ethernet ("GbE") to 40GbE or 100GbE (or 80 GbE,120 or even 160 GbE as the actual number is undetermined at present). From the way it looks, I have about two years to figure out what to do about that and come off my multi-window addiction. 2002 is when the industry started buzzing about 10GbE, up from 1GbE. Increases in the number of Internet users, streaming video, and websites with millions of simultaneous users (MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) create the demand for higher Gigabit Ethernet capacity. The need for data centers has become a reality for all of us, whether we realize it or not. We use servers in all kinds of unknown places to store our emails, photos, and videos, to hold websites and to transfer information. The more of us who use and rely on such centers, the greater the demand is for them to perform to our desires: fast and flawless. Data centers can only process as much data as their equipment allows. A simultaneous rush causes a bottleneck. Think about it like this: you are at a sold-out stadium event and the event ends. You get up to leave. Say the stadium has only one door (let’s compare this to our 10GbE). Chaos occurs as everyone tries to leave quickly. Now, let’s say we make that door bigger and add three to nine more exits (increasing our 10GbE to 40 or 100GbE). The flow would move much faster and smoother and we would be much happier. This increase in Ethernet speed will open up our capacity for bigger downloads and uploads faster. Pictures, video, and gaming will transfer more quickly. Our intranets and home networks will work faster. Moving around HD video on your network will be even easier.
Of course, there are so many factors that go into how fast you can go. Ethernet is only one part of the twisted web. Your computer itself will play a big part in your realization of the Gigabit Ethernet increase. Your responsibility will be to keep current with an up to date PC.
Full Story » | Written by Heidi Crossman for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 19 Oct 2008 | 9:49 pm Record Label Infringes Own Copyright, Site PulledAnonCow sends in a peculiar story from TorrentFreak, which describes the plight of a free-download music site that has been summarily evicted from the Internet for violating its own copyright. The problem seems to revolve around the host's insistence that proof of copyright be snail-mailed to them. Kind of difficult when your copyright takes the form of a Creative Commons license that cannot be verified unless its site is up. "The website of an Internet-based record label which offers completely free music downloads has been taken down by its host for copyright infringement, even though it only offers its own music. Quote Unquote Records calls itself 'The First Ever Donation Based Record Label,' but is currently homeless after its host pulled the plug."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Oct 2008 | 9:00 pm A $110,000 Motorcycle as Ugly as It Is ExpensiveThe Confederate Motors B91 Wraith was an amazing motorcycle with a timeless design. What the hell happened with the Renaissance?
Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Oct 2008 | 9:00 pm "Roadable Aircraft" Moving Towards LaunchWe discussed Terrafugia's plans for what they don't like to call a "flying car" — rather a "roadable aircraft" — last spring. The Boston Globe has an update on Massachusetts-based Terrafugia and its fight to get airborne in these parlous times. "The last serious attempt to bring a car-airplane hybrid to market was the Aerocar, in 1949. According to Carl Dietrich, chief executive of Terrafugia, that company built six prototypes. It needed 500 orders in order to gear up for mass production, but it never got there... 'It can be hard to explain the value of this to non-pilots,' Dietrich says, 'but when you're a pilot, the problems of high costs, limited mobility on the ground, and weather sensitivity are in your face, all the time.' The company says more than 50 of the vehicles have been pre-ordered. The target price is $198,000."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Oct 2008 | 8:37 pm The Internet is no 21st-century boob tube - CNET News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm Experts Say U.S. Fish in Russian WatersFishery experts say warmer waters are driving valuable stocks of Alaskan pollack further up the Bering Sea toward the nets of Russian fishing boats. Currently, more than 2 billion pounds of pollack are caught by U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm A Science Sandwich Inside a Snowboard?Kids everywhere have a ball playing sports. Few of them, however, are aware of the amazing science behind the sports they love. In fact, every kick of a soccer ball or swing of a bat is an experiment. In time for National Chemistry Week (Oct.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm Going to England? To buy a cellphone? And are a terrorist? Bring a passport
In an enlightened effort to prevent terrorism, you may soon need a passport to buy a cellphone in the UK. The Times is reporting that officials are thinking of creating a register of prepaid phone purchasers.
One loophole? You can pay cash and not show a passport. Another loophole? You can get a SIM card and cellphone from another country and make calls. Another loophole? You could use a pay phone. Security theater, friends. Security theater. Source: CrunchGear | 19 Oct 2008 | 7:47 pm A MAME cocktail cabinet that actually looks nice
With the "Optime Strategies" table, a display-topped computer with proper arcade controls, the "acceptable in the living room" quotient of old-school gaming takes a giant leap forward. The table is designed as a complete reproduction of the original arcade 'cocktail' tables of the eighties. Rather than housing the original hardware and software however, it contains a high-spec PC. The PC is wired to standard arcade joysticks and buttons, and completely emulates the original games using ... MAME. That testicle-crushing £3000 price tag is the bad news, though they'll customize it to your desires. It's always fun to see the disclaimers offered by those who commercialize MAME. "Optime Strategies does not condone in any way the illegal use of copyrighted software" indeed. Arcade Memories [via Born Rich] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Oct 2008 | 7:34 pm New Prius photo leaked
As Nilay Patel aptly puts it, "yep, looks like a shoe." 2010 Prius Photos posted on PriusChat First! Confirmed real! [Prius Chat via Engadget] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Oct 2008 | 7:32 pm iGoogle Users Irate About Portal's Changesbhhenry sends in an InformationWeek report on a recent unannounced change in the iGoogle portal. Quoting: "Google insists that its revised iGoogle personalized home page generates better 'happiness metrics' than the old design, but a vocal group of users isn't happy about the changes." The recent change introduces what Google refers to as "canvas view," which the Official Google Blog claims "... makes iGoogle a more useful homepage and a better platform for developers." Unlike the last major change made to Gmail, there is no option to revert to the old version of iGoogle. iGoogle users are reporting that widgets and themes are broken, Gmail attachments don't work, and valuable screen space is wasted. The Personalizing Google section of Google Groups is full of thousands of complaints about this sudden and unannounced change. Many posters have have stated that they are using the Canadian or UK version of iGoogle or even moving to NetVibes.com to get their preferred layout back. It seems that Google and Yahoo are moving in lockstep in springing forced changes that users hate.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Oct 2008 | 7:29 pm Kodak Reputation RedeemedSection: Peripherals, Printers / Scanners Pricing and Fade-Resistance Figured Out
As a draw-in, Kodak claims these printers give us the lowest ink prices in the industry. This is just like every printer they have ever put out, even going back to the first ones in 2004. Even in 2007, when Kodak put out its first inkjet, they were singing the same song. Ink: Cheap prices or cheap quality?Last year, David Pogue wrote an article for The New York Times revealing calculations that HP black prints cost a tenth of a cent less. I guess that was before these new and improved machines and ink were introduced. We should question the quality to the ink. In 2004, Wilhelm Imaging Research (WIR), print performance tester, proved Kodak’s fade resistance to 11 years. At the same time, Kodak, having performed their own tests (accused of being much less realistic), was claiming a 162 year life on images. Do we chalk this up to Kodak being a baby in the market at the time and now they have more experience under their belt? Still, if Kodak does not watch it, with such a history, they might find themselves right up there with the boy in the kids’ story about the boy who cried wolf. I hesitate to believe their claim for the lowest ink prices - maybe if they would say among the lowest or in competition with the lowest. But then they might lose business from the naive few who buy into the sales pitch. A promise is a promise. What happens when promises are broken? Making changesIt seems Kodak has made some changes and redeemed themselves. At the beginning of 2008, WIR tested Kodak’s AiO products then and stated, “the Kodak’s Easyshare AiO printers and ink achieved the highest level of overall print permanence of any current consumer desktop printer system.” WIR says Kodak prints should now last over 125 years. QualityLogic also tests for Kodak, focusing on making good on the Kodak promise of having the best, most inexpensive ink. QualityLogic affirms the claim that “consumers can save up to 50% on everything they print compared with similar consumer inkjet printers.” How Kodak’s technology worksThe secret to it all is Kodak’s own Kodacolor Technology. The Kodak claimed results are supposed to happen with the combination of Kodak ink cartridges, Kodak paper, Kodak’s color and image science, and a print head technology vastly different than the competition. From my understanding, the basic gist of it is that the ink is made with pigment instead of dyes like the competitions. The pigment broken down in a milling process which then is able to pass through the very small hole of the ink cartridge. The five color contains black, cyan, magenta, yellow and a clear coat. The ink soaks into the paper while the clear coat remains on top as a protectant, aiding in the longevity of the print. That handles the fade-resistant issue and may give us a slightly cheaper cartridge cost, but the real cost savings for the cartridge comes from the print head being moved out of the cartridge and into the printer itself. Unlike competitors who include that bit of technology in every cartridge, Kodak saw it unnecessary for us to continue paying for something that we could only pay for once. Kodak noticed a place in the market that needed improvement and stood claim to being the one to overcome. Their proclamations were probably years too early, but they may have finally gotten it. I might be sold enough on it to give Kodak AiO a chance. Full Story » | Written by Heidi Crossman for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 19 Oct 2008 | 7:12 pm "Max Payne" shoots to top of box office roster (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Oct 2008 | 6:49 pm Fascinating Bond trivia
Who doesn’t enjoy a little James Bond trivia?
Source: CrunchGear | 19 Oct 2008 | 6:47 pm Why Most Published Research Findings Are FalseHugh Pickens writes "Researchers have found that the winner's curse may apply to the publication of scientific papers and that incorrect findings are more likely to end up in print than correct findings. Dr John Ioannidis bases his argument about incorrect research partly on a study of 49 papers on the effectiveness of medical interventions published in leading journals that had been cited by more than 1,000 other scientists, and his finding that, within only a few years, almost a third of the papers had been refuted by other studies. Ioannidis argues that scientific research is so difficult — the sample sizes must be big and the analysis rigorous — that most research may end up being wrong, and the 'hotter' the field, the greater the competition is, and the more likely that published research in top journals could be wrong. Another study earlier this year found that among the studies submitted to the FDA about the effectiveness of antidepressants, almost all of those with positive results were published, whereas very few of those with negative results saw print, although negative results are potentially just as informative as positive (if less exciting)."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Oct 2008 | 6:21 pm Two Ways Google Is Trying To Juice AdSense: Ad-Only Search Boxes And Syndication PagesGoogle turned in healthy third-quarter earnings largely thanks to the fact that Google is finally getting serious about cost containment. But that is only half the story. Going into the expected economic downturn, Google is now turning on every additional source of advertising revenues it can. For instance, so far earlier month it began offering AdSense in Flash games, new AdSense links at the bottom of Google Maps, and introduced click-to-buy buttons on YouTube videos. But there are at least two more ways Google is trying to juice those AdSense revenues: an AdSense search box and AdSense ads that link to syndication pages filled with . . . more AdSense ads!
Google might just be testing these, but these efforts are starting to get noticed. One reader who runs a site about Google Chrome, for instance, runs AdSense. But instead of a regular text ad, Google served up the search box at left, inviting people to search for specific ads. In effect, Google is saying, “We are not 100% sure what ads you’d like to see, so why don’t you just tell us?” An ad-only search box is a departure from Google’s past policy of showing the most relevant results, with ads on the side. Although it is clearly labeled, some people might still confuse the AdSense search box with a regular Web search box. Others might find it more helpful than the regular text ad links. [Update: Some readers say this search box is nothing new, see comments].
More troublesome is Google Syndication. Another reader, Michael Oxley, noticed that the AdSense text links on his golf site are directing readers not to a product page with information about a “Tiger Woods Caddy” or “Golf Wear,” but rather to a Google Syndication landing page filled with more AdSense ads (see screenshot below). These landing pages are run by Google (they take you to a googlesyndication.com URL). These pages basically syndicate a bunch of other AdSense ads triggered by the keywords in the original ad that was clicked on. If Google starts using its Google Syndication pages more widely (they’ve actually been around for a while, it seems, and are also known as Link Units), it could become controversial. That is because they seem to run counter to Google’s own stated policy for landing page quality, a factor that goes into how Google scores each ad. As this NYT article explains:
The lower the quality score, the higher an advertiser has to bid for a given keyword. Google itself provides the following guidelines to advertisers who want to improve the quality score of their AdSense ads (I’ve bolded parts for emphasis):
The question here is: Why isn’t Google heeding its own advice? And is it in effect running house ads that it wouldn’t tolerate from an outside advertiser (or at least punish by increasing the minimum bid required to run them)? When times are tough, anything goes.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 19 Oct 2008 | 6:06 pm Location of Obama’s ad in Burnout Paradise
Obama’s ad spot in Burnout Paradise garnered both praise and criticism - mostly the later - but in case you wanted to see it for yourself, the map above marks the location. Just like we said originally though, this ad will only appear in the Xbox 360 version and you have to live in either Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio or Wisconsin. Apparently, Barack doesn’t feel the rest of the country needs the so-called ‘gamers vote’. Kidding, just kidding, Obamaites. Source: CrunchGear | 19 Oct 2008 | 5:50 pm Hot gaming news for the week of 10-12-2008Section:  No need to scour the Internet for hot gaming news, Gamertell‘s already done that for you! Here’s a look at this week’s top stories…
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 19 Oct 2008 | 5:35 pm TSA Employee Caught With $200K Worth of Stolen PropertyThe plane moves me or I move the plane? writes "After years of people complaining about their luggage locks being broken in the name of the Transportation Security Administration, and after countless properly-stowed utilities and tools had been scrutinized from a paranoid point of view, an employee of the TSA (which is part of the Department of Homeland Security) has been captured with evidence of over $200,000 worth of stolen property he was selling on eBay. With the help of local police and the USPS, a search of his house found a great deal of property pilfered from the un-witnessed searches that occurred after luggage had been checked, where the rightful owner was not allowed. 'Among the items seized were 66 cameras, 31 laptop computers, 20 cell phones, 17 sets of electronic games, 13 pieces of jewelry, 12 GPS devices, 11 MP3 players, eight camera lenses, six video cameras and two DVD players, the affidavit said.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Oct 2008 | 5:16 pm This MotoArt Boeing Flight Simulator will get you laid
The normal flight sim isn’t something the ladies will appreciate but MotoArt’s Boeing Flight Simulator is just so damn sexy that it’s dying to have a pin-up girl all over it. The sim is made from vintage aviation parts all polished to a retro finish. Technical details are a bit slim but it appears to have two screens, one for aviation controls and the other for live views, all powered by Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Chances are that this Boeing-sponsored build isn’t up for sale, but feel free to drop MotoArt a blank check and maybe they will build one for you too. Source: CrunchGear | 19 Oct 2008 | 4:46 pm Lawsuit Between Apple and Psystar Moves Toward SettlementAn anonymous reader writes "Psystar and Apple have agreed to alternative dispute resolution to keep the public eye away from their disagreements, and to reduce legal costs. This will eliminate any rulings that would set a precedent over Psystar's claim that Apple is violating anti-trust laws by tying Mac OS X to only their hardware and thus creating a monopoly. This could result in a profit for Psystar's business, but eliminate their line of open-computing Mac-compatible PCs. On the other hand, what's to stop a similar company from doing the same thing?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Oct 2008 | 4:15 pm Power Plants Kill Billions of FishFor a newly hatched striped bass in the Hudson River, a clutch of trout eggs in Lake Michigan or a baby salmon in San Francisco Bay, drifting a little too close to a power plant can mean a quick and turbulent death.Sucked in with enormous volumes of water, battered against the sides of pipes and heated by steam, the small fry of the aquatic world are being sacrificed in large numbers each year to the cooling systems of power plants around the country.Environmentalists say the nation's power plants are needlessly killing fish and fish eggs with their cooling systems, but energy-industry officials say opponents of nuclear power are exaggerating the losses.The issue is affecting the debate over the future of a nuclear plant in the suburbs north of New York City, and the facilities and environmentalists are closely watching the outcome here to see how to proceed in other cities around the country.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Oct 2008 | 4:05 pm Create No Download Screencasts In Seconds With ScreenToaster
The demo video below, which was created with the software, shows how easy it is to use. Click start, bring up a different website, and click a Option-S to record. Hit Option-S again to stop recording, and it is instantly uploaded to the site in Flash for review and, if you like it, publishing. You can also set the screen recording size manually with a different key combination. And you aren’t limited to recording web pages, you can move the recording area off browser. The service is written as a Java web applet and works on any OS that has the Java runtime. Vides can be embedded and viewed with the Flash plugin, like any online video service. Recorded with screentoaster.com
There are some other services like ScreenToaster. Screencast-O-Matic, for example, has similar functionality and also allows the export of videos and audio recording - a glaring omission for ScreenToaster. The ScreenToaster guys are working to add audio, subtitles and other features before launch, though. And the ease of use is just awesome. It takes literally seconds to create and publish a screencast. I’ve done a lot of these, and I know what a pain they are with client software, editing and uploading. If you want to be added to the beta, leave your email here. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 19 Oct 2008 | 10:49 am
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“We’re thrilled to report our best quarter ever.” Apple CEO Steve Jobs has 
Kodak recently introduced two inkjet printers to their All-in-One lineup: ESP7 and ESP9. The announcement came nearly six months after they released the ESP5.
New Paris based startup