While many startups are heading in the opposite direction by trying to take the best of the desktop experience inside the browser, Sobees’ goal is to aggregate various web applications and services into a customized desktop environment instead, including search, weather updates, RSS feeds, YouTube videos, social networking sites, etc.

The bootstrapped startup wants to provide a seamless user experience fit for a mainstream audience when it comes to accessing online content or handling repetitive internet tasks, without the need to constantly switch between browser windows, tabs and multiple desktop apps. Customizable start pages like Netvibes, iGoogle / Google Desktop and MyYahoo are the biggest challengers, as well as the widgets you can add to your Mac or Windows Vista desktop.

Sobees also boasts a number of social features like interacting with friends, sharing data and news articles, as well as integration with video and photo sharing services. Sobees allows you to update your status messages across Facebook and Twitter, and also enables you to drag and drop media files and easily transfer them to a variety of services, e.g. dragging pictures to the desktop environment and uploading them directly to your Flickr account. Ubervu has a similar approach.

Sobees plans to make money from search monetization, advertising and selling branded modules.

Sobees sports an excellent design and has obviously paid much attention to the usability of the service (the ribbon menu is really cool) but one has to wonder if there’s a real need for this type of service. As fancy as it may be, it doesn’t solve a real problem, not one I’m aware of anyway.

Another barrier to take into account is the fact that Sobees can only be installed on machines running Windows Vista / XP with the yet-to-be-distributed .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 for now, although a Silverlight build is currently on the roadmap. I also experienced some problems launching and accessing the application after installing.

I embedded a demo video below which gives a good overview of the main functionalities (sexy voice over included).

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Oct 2008 | 6:59 am

Touchscreen-based, Windows 7 compatible Eee PC’s coming in 2009

Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops, Software / Applications

In addition to the recent announcement regarding the Eee PC selling 4 million units, CEO Jerry Shen also confirmed a few details regarding some upcoming Eee PCs. 

Without giving away all of the details, Shen was able to confirm that consumers should expect to see a touchscreen-based Eee PC available sometime in early-2009.  That sounds exciting, but unfortunately, Shen did not go into very much detail about what we can expect those touchscreen models to look like, simply stating that they were exploring a convertible tablet model.  Sounds like a nice addition, but we can only hope that the design is significantly improved and that we see something other than a current styled Eee with a touchscreen added.

Not to be limited by just adding a touchscreen, Shen also mentioned that we can expect some Windows 7 compatible Eee PC’s sometime around the middle of 2009. Of course this is before Windows 7 is expected to begin shipping, so the availability of those are likely to come at a later date.

While both the touchscreen and Windows 7 Eee PCs sound interesting enough, they are not something that would hold me off from making a netbook purchase now or in the short term future.  Looking forward into the future, Shen stated that they are planning to offer “more exciting products next year” and they will be priced from $250 up to $700.  He also gave us a little teaser, stating that Asus will be announcing new Eee products in Q1 of 2009.  Sounds like we have a CES announcement to look forward to.

Read [Laptop Mag]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Oct 2008 | 6:46 am

New Democrat New Danger

Boing Boing Gadgets colleague and Vice President of Photoshoppery Rob Beschizza says,

Brits older than maybe 20 or so will doubtless remember the general election of 1997, which saw Tony Blair — then a young center-left liberal running on a platform of change — defeat incumbent conservatives with a tarnished reputation.

The parallels with 2008's presidential race go beyond just a similar placement of pieces on the board, though: by the end, Blair's opponents were reduced to running personal attacks on Blair that make the McCain-Palin's recent larks looks like a vicar's tea party. They were incredibly bizarre.

Check out these campaign posters (above). They actually ran these on billboards, in newspapers and other media!

I was feeling a little sorry for the Republicans, given the thrashing they're about to be dealt. Perhaps this sort of thing will work a little better on this side of the Atlantic? (below).

Source: Boing Boing | 23 Oct 2008 | 6:21 am

Perroquet: beautiful slow-motion ambient film and images

Perroquet, a project inspired by science photography and nature documentaries, from fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø.

Conventional fashion photography allows the image-maker to draw on a wealth of outside creative resources -be it a hair-stylist, make-up artist, or fashion stylist - to enable them to realise their intentions. In Parroquet, the subject matter encouraged Sundsbø to take a somewhat different approach, focusing on one specific element: the movement of the bird in flight.

It was always Sundsbø’s chief intention to document the parroquet using photography and film; both mediums enabling him to steal moments that would normally be missed. Shot in a controlled studio environment using high-speed cameras, the slow-motion shorts show the bird mid-flight. The distinct physical characteristics of the parroquet –its strong curved bill, and its clawed feet– are all visible, but it is the bird’s feathers that are the central focus.

Sundsbø also gives special consideration to the bird’s slender silhouette, by cleverly incorporating shots of its shadow.

The photographs present ‘frozen moments’ of the bird’s journey; rather than showing its full body, the cropped viewpoints bring abstract qualities to Sundsbø’s powerful images.

(ShowStudio, via Clayton Cubitt)

Source: Boing Boing | 23 Oct 2008 | 6:09 am

Weblogs, Inc. Three Years Later: Impressive Page View And Revenue Growth

Earlier this month News Corp. celebrated the three year anniversary of the acquisition of MySpace. Today, AOL does the same for the Weblogs, Inc. blog network they acquired in October 2005.

Since the acquisition, AOL says, the Weblogs, Inc. blogs (which include Engadget, TMZ, Download Squad, TUAW, Joystiq, Autoblog and others) have seen worldwide unique visitors climb nearly 1000% (122% annually, on average) and page views rise over 1,500% (154% annually, on average), according to August 2008 comScore Media Metrix. In October 2005, the blogs had a U.S. audience of 1.4 million unique visitors and were generating about $6 million in revenue. Today its 13 million uniques and revenues of about $30 million.

In short, it was one of AOL’s better acquisitions.

See the screenshots and Powerpoint presentation below for more details.

Third Anniversary Weblogs Inc _ AOL 11

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Oct 2008 | 6:06 am

LinkedIn raises another $22.7 million (CNET)

CNET - LinkedIn has raised an additional $22.7 million in funding, giving the business-networking site a little cushion in difficult economic times.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Oct 2008 | 6:00 am

Download The Suffering for free at FileFront

FROM GAMERTELL - What’s better than a free game? OK, not much, but at least the already sweet deal is even sweeter when it’s a decent, holiday-appropriate (read: scary) game…
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:59 am

Johnson Controls and Texas Instruments Discuss Security Issues in SecurityStockWatch.Com Interviews

"We think that as the convergence of physical security and IT advances, its benefits become more and more obvious to our customers. It leads to new and innovative products that are also more affordable than ever before.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

U.N. Creates First Map of World's Aquifers

For the first time, the world's freshwater aquifers will soon be charted on a map, the United Nations announced Wednesday in New York. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's map of the world's underground water resources will be submitted to the U.N.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

Wildlands Announces Bank Expansion in Sutter County, California

Wildlands announces the approval of Phase II of Gilsizer Slough South Giant Garter Snake Conservation Bank, in Sutter County, California.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

Fire Still Burns in N.J. State Forest

A wildfire fed by gusting winds burned Wednesday in Wharton State Forest in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, officials said. The blaze, first sighted from a fire tower about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, had spread to more than 1,800 acres, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

Belugas Dying in Alaska's Cook Inlet

Federal researchers said they're trying to figure out why beluga whales are dying in Alaska's Cook Inlet. The belugas have been listed as endangered, with an estimated 375 of the animals left in the area.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

IBM Study Finds Consumers Prefer a Mobile Device Over the PC

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today released new survey results which reveal that over 50 percent of consumers would substitute their Internet usage on a PC for a mobile device.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

Netflix and Samsung Partner to Instantly Stream Movies on Next Generation Blu-Ray Disc Players

LOS GATOS, Calif. and RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Netflix, Inc.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

Facebook Predator Gets 35 Years

An Illinois man who posed as a teenage girl online to entice a boy into having sex with him has been sentenced to 35 years in federal prison, an official said.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

Research and Markets: An Analysis of Vietnam's Internet Market: Understand the Strong Market Growth, Development & Industry Regulation

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/b46916/vietnam_internet) has announced the addition of the "Vietnam - Internet" report to their offering. The Vietnamese government had for a long time been very cautious about allowing free access to online information.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

AMD Launches ATI Radeon(TM) HD 4830 Graphics Card for Cutting-Edge DirectX(R) 10.1 Game Play at Less Than USD$150

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today introduced the ATI Radeon(TM) HD 4830 graphics card, raising the performance bar for graphics cards priced at less than $150 (USD) (1) and presenting gamers with even more affordable access to award-winning ATI Radeon(TM) HD 4800 series performance.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 23 Oct 2008 | 5:00 am

T-Mobile announces first software update for the G1

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

By now, I’m sure know that most of you know that T-Mobile’s G1 was officially released today and there already have been some bug issues.  In efforts to get everything straightened away with the G1, T-Mobile has announced that they will be sending out a software update via OTA (over the air).

The software update is nothing major, in fact, according to the chatter it mostly makes Amazon songs available for playback.  Additionally, it will feature several other “enhancements”, however, T-Mobile didn’t specify what we can expect these enhancements to be.  If you received your G1 because you pre-ordered your phone, the necessary update will be ready anywhere from October 23-25.  If you didn’t get your phone via pre-order, then your update will be ready by October 31.  T-Mobile also adds that all G1 customers will be notified via text message once the update is ready for installation. 

Unfortunately, T-Mobile was pretty skimpy on the details of this update, but hopefully we can expect more details in the following updates.  I’m sure there will be plenty more updates in the near future, especially considering the first one was announced in less than 24 hours of initial launch. 

Read [T-Mobile Forums] Via [TmoNews]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:33 am

LinkedIn connects with investors for $22.7 million (AP)

AP - LinkedIn Corp. has raised an additional $22.7 million to help insulate the steadily growing online business network from the economic storm and provide more financial flexibility.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:27 am

Voters Swayed By Candidates Who Share Their Looks

iandoh writes "Stanford researchers have found that voters are subconsciously swayed by candidates who share their facial features. In three experiments, researchers at the Virtual Human Interaction Lab worked with cheap, easy-to-use computer software to morph pictures of about 600 test subjects with photos of politicians. And they kept coming up with the same results: For the would-be voters who weren't very familiar with the candidates or in perfect lockstep with their positions or political parties, the facial similarity was enough to clinch their votes."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:23 am

Samsung Blu-ray players hooking up with Netflix (AP)

AP - Samsung Electronics Co. is equipping Blu-ray DVD players so they can retrieve movies and TV shows from Netflix Inc.'s Internet streaming service, accelerating Netflix's push to develop more delivery methods beyond the mail.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:21 am

Raising the Genius Bar: 7 Years of iPod Evolution

: Photo: Robyn Twomey/Wired

It has been seven years since Steve Jobs announced the first "perfect thing" in the fall of 2001. Since then, very few products have come to exact total domination in their respected fields like the iPod has. And really, no other gadget in recent memory (save for maybe the iPhone) has exploded onto the cultural cache with the same impact. Hell, your granny is probably listening to some Wu-Tang on her fourth-gen Nano right now.

Here, take a scroll down memory lane with us and see the evolution of the product from its initial rocky conception to its current button-free touchscreen interface. Come on, it'll be fun.

The Proto

Conceived Early 2001

Left: There were literally dozens of early mock-ups of the iPod that didn't make the cut. Cobbled together from foam and fishing weights, they all had one thing in common: the round control wheel adorning the front.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: October 23, 2001

Unveiled by Snoop Jobby Jobs at a special event in October 2001, the premier iPod featured a gigantic scroll wheel, a $500 price tag (for a whopping 10 GB) and was solely compatible with Macs.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: April 8, 2003

The first major redesign of the iPod sported touch-sensitive buttons for menu access, rewind, fast-forward and play/pause. It also was the first iPod to drop MusicMatch support when iTunes 4.1 was unveiled with Windows compatibility.

: Photo credit: Apple Computer

Announced: January 6, 2004

Apple's very first attempt at miniaturization of the media player resulted in a 4-GB model that was available in five different hues. Also making its debut was the touch-sensitive click wheel.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: October 26, 2004

In living color! After three years of monochrome displays, the iPod got a vibrant 2-inch color screen that was also adept at showing off pictures. For the first time, the line between music player and all-in-one media device started to bleed.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: January 10, 2005

We've noticed that Apple has a tendency to drop legacy features sooner rather than later (latest example: FireWire ports from the new Macbook), but ditching the entire LCD screen? WTF?! Turns out people kinda didn't care — especially when they found out this pack-of-gum-sized device had a sub c-note price tag.

:

Announced: October 26, 2004

Laser etched with the signatures of the band and festooned in a black and red paint job, this iPod was not exactly a huge commercial success. But for die-hard U2 fans, it was, uh, even better than the real thing.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: September 7, 2005

IPod Mini heir apparent, the first Nano was thinner, could be used to view pictures and was the world's first 4-GB flash player. But all was not well — critics took issue with a screen that scratched more readily than a crazed cheetah.

:

Announced: September 12, 2006

Sure, it looks like it could be a toddler's belt buckle, but this anodized aluminum wonder boasted some hefty specs: 0.55 ounces, 1 GB of memory and half a dozen color options. Fun fact: For a short period of time, Apple's website cautioned customers to "not eat the iPod Shuffle."

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: September 5, 2007

The first iPod with a multitouch interface. The first iPod with WiFi. The first iPod without a click wheel. No matter if you think the iPod Touch is a Jobsend or just an over-hyped disaster, one thing is for certain: It's definitely the most radical re-imagining of the device since its inception.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Oct. 23, 2001: Now Hear This ... The iPod Arrives

2001: Apple rolls out the iPod, eventually propelling the company to dominance in the digital-music field and changing the music industry forever.

Apple's Steve Jobs, who tends to overuse superlatives ("the best ever," "it’ll put a ding in the universe"), was not far off the mark with the iPod. Despite some conspicuous flaws — a wonky scroll wheel, no Windows compatibility, short battery life and a whopping $400 price tag — this innocuous-looking device was indeed a game-changer.

The iPod was not the first MP3 player, but its simple interface and internal hard drive (which evolved to flash memory in later models) set a new standard. Another advantage was integration with the easy-to-use iTunes software. Later, support for Apple's massive iTunes library provided iPod customers (Beatles fans excepted) with a vast trove of music to populate their players.

From conception to completion, it took Apple engineers and designers just under a year to come up with the original iPod player. It featured a 5 GB hard drive and was capable of playing music in several audio file formats.

Jobs announced the iPod to the world with his usual sly flourish: The iPod "puts a thousand songs in your pocket." That's exactly what it did, with more efficiency and elegance than any MP3 player that preceded it.

Still, the iPod was not an overnight success. Early sales were sluggish, and it wasn't until 2004 that the millionth iPod was sold. Things took off after the release of a version for Windows, followed by the rapid introduction of new models, such as the Mini, the Shuffle and the Nano.

Once it gained momentum, the iPod's dominance of digital music led to profound changes in the music industry, a cloistered fraternity notoriously resistant to change.

Mainly, the iPod allowed Apple to blow up the industry's CD-based business model, by making the downloading of singles both cheap and easy. Among other things, there was grumbling from music execs over the fact that people were able to rip their previously purchased CDs into their iTunes libraries without having to pay extra for the privilege.

As a result of this and the general advance of technology, the music industry is in the painful process of reinventing itself. Whatever emerges, iTunes, now easily the world's biggest music retailer, will have to be part of the equation.

Sales of the iPod peaked in early 2008, with more than 20 million of them clearing the shelves during Apple's first quarter. Not coincidentally, it was the most profitable quarter in company history.

Today, in all its variations, the iPod commands both the U.S. and foreign MP3 markets. It accounts for roughly three of every four digital music players sold in the United States.

This kind of dominance tends to be self-perpetuating, and Apple has capitalized accordingly, cutting deals with a slew of stereo manufacturers, carmakers and even airlines to make the iPod the music player of choice, thereby ensuring its continued place at the head of the table.

Source: Various

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Gallery: The Best in Dead and Dying iPod Killers

:

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the iPod must be blushing its scroll wheel off right now. After the debut of Cupertino's quintessential wonder-player in 2001, a torrent of upstarts started to flood the market. Some were legitimate iPod competitors. But most were no better than well-shined turds.

Here are a few of the best and worst contenders we've seen challenge the iThrone for ultimate MP3 supremacy over the years.

Show us your favorite portable music player.

Left:

The Toshiba Gigabeat

Yes, yes, yes, we know that Toshiba still makes the Gigabeat line, but solid hardware and a slick UI weren’t enough to prevent the Gigabeat S version from being smoked in sales by the third-gen iPod.

:

A flash-based player, the YP-Z5 had some cool things going for it: a user interface designed by a former iPod engineer, touch-sensitive controls and, uh, a lanyard hook. But a lack of FM radio, voice recorder and adjustable EQ ultimately doomed the player to Samsung’s junk heap.

:

Basically a repackaged Creative Nomad, the Dell Digital Jukebox was meant to take the iPod head-on. But it wasn't meant to be. Although the hardware was sound, Dell's online music store was AWOL leaving the Jukebox line to be discontinued in 2006.

:

Monochrome display. FM Tuner. Blue backlight. Are these the ingredients to an iPod killer? Uh, no. They're the ingredients to a substandard music player that also had a tendency to suck its single(!) AAA power source dry in a hurry.

:

Looking more bath toy than MP3 player, the Mixx was Iomega's idea for a "sporty" media device but was punctuated by pokey file transfers and an inability to sync with services like Napster or Rhapsody.

:

With a two-year run, the 10,000-song-holding Karma went toe-to-toe with the iPod longer than most other MP3 players. But here's the thing: The Karma must have been a sinner in a previous life; not only cursed with hideous looks, it also sucked down batteries and had crash-prone hard drives.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Show Us Your Favorite Portable Music Player

In honor of the iPod's seventh birthday, we're asking readers to submit photos of their favorite portable music players, new and old. Have a clunky old Walkman lying around? An off-brand iPod wannabe that you love? Shoot a photo of it and share it with us.

Use the Reddit widget below to submit your best portable music player photo and vote for your favorite among the other submissions. If we like your photo, we'll include it in a gallery on Wired.com.

The photo must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your photo so that other readers know what they're looking at.

We don't host the photos, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. Using an online photo service that requires that you log in will not work. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg).

Please bookmark this page, send it to your friends and check back periodically over the next two weeks to vote on new submissions!

Vote on portable music player photos submitted by other readers.

Show entries that are: hot | new | top-rated. Submit your portable music player photo.

Submit your portable music player photo.

(No more than one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.)

Back to top

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Show Us Your Favorite Portable Music Player

In honor of the iPod's seventh birthday, we're asking readers to submit photos of their favorite portable music players, new and old. Have a clunky old Walkman lying around? An off-brand iPod wannabe that you love? Shoot a photo of it and share it with us.

Use the Reddit widget below to submit your best portable music player photo and vote for your favorite among the other submissions. If we like your photo, we'll include it in a gallery on Wired.com.

The photo must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your photo so that other readers know what they're looking at.

We don't host the photos, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. Using an online photo service that requires that you log in will not work. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg).

Please bookmark this page, send it to your friends and check back periodically over the next two weeks to vote on new submissions!

Vote on portable music player photos submitted by other readers.

Show entries that are: hot | new | top-rated. Submit your portable music player photo.

Submit your portable music player photo.

(No more than one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.)

Back to top

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Gallery: The Best in Dead and Dying iPod Killers

:

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the iPod must be blushing its scroll wheel off right now. After the debut of Cupertino's quintessential wonder-player in 2001, a torrent of upstarts started to flood the market. Some were legitimate iPod competitors. But most were no better than well-shined turds.

Here are a few of the best and worst contenders we've seen challenge the iThrone for ultimate MP3 supremacy over the years.

Show us your favorite portable music player.

Left:

The Toshiba Gigabeat

Yes, yes, yes, we know that Toshiba still makes the Gigabeat line, but solid hardware and a slick UI weren’t enough to prevent the Gigabeat S version from being smoked in sales by the third-gen iPod.

:

A flash-based player, the YP-Z5 had some cool things going for it: a user interface designed by a former iPod engineer, touch-sensitive controls and, uh, a lanyard hook. But a lack of FM radio, voice recorder and adjustable EQ ultimately doomed the player to Samsung’s junk heap.

:

Basically a repackaged Creative Nomad, the Dell Digital Jukebox was meant to take the iPod head-on. But it wasn't meant to be. Although the hardware was sound, Dell's online music store was AWOL leaving the Jukebox line to be discontinued in 2006.

:

Monochrome display. FM Tuner. Blue backlight. Are these the ingredients to an iPod killer? Uh, no. They're the ingredients to a substandard music player that also had a tendency to suck its single(!) AAA power source dry in a hurry.

:

Looking more bath toy than MP3 player, the Mixx was Iomega's idea for a "sporty" media device but was punctuated by pokey file transfers and an inability to sync with services like Napster or Rhapsody.

:

With a two-year run, the 10,000-song-holding Karma went toe-to-toe with the iPod longer than most other MP3 players. But here's the thing: The Karma must have been a sinner in a previous life; not only cursed with hideous looks, it also sucked down batteries and had crash-prone hard drives.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

Raising the Genius Bar: 7 Years of iPod Evolution

: Photo: Robyn Twomey/Wired

It has been seven years since Steve Jobs announced the first "perfect thing" in the fall of 2001. Since then, very few products have come to exact total domination in their respected fields like the iPod has. And really, no other gadget in recent memory (save for maybe the iPhone) has exploded onto the cultural cache with the same impact. Hell, your granny is probably listening to some Wu-Tang on her fourth-gen Nano right now.

Here, take a scroll down memory lane with us and see the evolution of the product from its initial rocky conception to its current button-free touchscreen interface. Come on, it'll be fun.

The Proto

Conceived Early 2001

Left: There were literally dozens of early mock-ups of the iPod that didn't make the cut. Cobbled together from foam and fishing weights, they all had one thing in common: the round control wheel adorning the front.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: October 23, 2001

Unveiled by Snoop Jobby Jobs at a special event in October 2001, the premier iPod featured a gigantic scroll wheel, a $500 price tag (for a whopping 10 GB) and was solely compatible with Macs.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: April 8, 2003

The first major redesign of the iPod sported touch-sensitive buttons for menu access, rewind, fast-forward and play/pause. It also was the first iPod to drop MusicMatch support when iTunes 4.1 was unveiled with Windows compatibility.

: Photo credit: Apple Computer

Announced: January 6, 2004

Apple's very first attempt at miniaturization of the media player resulted in a 4-GB model that was available in five different hues. Also making its debut was the touch-sensitive click wheel.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: October 26, 2004

In living color! After three years of monochrome displays, the iPod got a vibrant 2-inch color screen that was also adept at showing off pictures. For the first time, the line between music player and all-in-one media device started to bleed.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: January 10, 2005

We've noticed that Apple has a tendency to drop legacy features sooner rather than later (latest example: FireWire ports from the new Macbook), but ditching the entire LCD screen? WTF?! Turns out people kinda didn't care — especially when they found out this pack-of-gum-sized device had a sub c-note price tag.

:

Announced: October 26, 2004

Laser etched with the signatures of the band and festooned in a black and red paint job, this iPod was not exactly a huge commercial success. But for die-hard U2 fans, it was, uh, even better than the real thing.

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: September 7, 2005

IPod Mini heir apparent, the first Nano was thinner, could be used to view pictures and was the world's first 4-GB flash player. But all was not well — critics took issue with a screen that scratched more readily than a crazed cheetah.

:

Announced: September 12, 2006

Sure, it looks like it could be a toddler's belt buckle, but this anodized aluminum wonder boasted some hefty specs: 0.55 ounces, 1 GB of memory and half a dozen color options. Fun fact: For a short period of time, Apple's website cautioned customers to "not eat the iPod Shuffle."

: Photo: Apple Computer

Announced: September 5, 2007

The first iPod with a multitouch interface. The first iPod with WiFi. The first iPod without a click wheel. No matter if you think the iPod Touch is a Jobsend or just an over-hyped disaster, one thing is for certain: It's definitely the most radical re-imagining of the device since its inception.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 23 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am

MySpace Music Signs IODA, Gains 6,000 Indie Labels And 50,000 Artists

MySpace Music continues to sign key music deals - today they announced the addition of the no. 2 independent music aggregator, IODA, to the platform. Orchard, the no. 1 indie aggregator, has been on board since the launch.

IODA brings music from 6,000 labels and 50,000 indie artists like Cake, Billie Holliday, Ray Charles, The Stills, Tokyo Police Club and Broken Social Scene.

MySpace now claims to have more than 2 million indie music tracks.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Oct 2008 | 3:59 am

LinkedIn Announces $22.7 Million Infusion From SAP, Goldman Sachs, and McGraw Hill

Business networking startup LinkedIn is announcing today that it has raised another $22.7 million, on top of the $53 million D round it closed last June at a $1 billion valuation. The new round is a follow-on to the series D at the same valuation, bringing on strategic investors SAP, Goldman Sachs, and McGraw Hill. Existing investor Bessemer Venture Partners also participated. This brings the total capital LinkedIn has raised to just over $100 million.

The round actually closed last month, before the financial markets began their tailspin. More cash in the bank is always a good thing, especially now. LinkedIn has 370 employees and says that revenues are growing more than 100 percent a year. “The company as been profitable since 2006,” CEO Dan Nye tells me. Although that might change this quarter, he cautions.

The extra cash should help him weather the storm. He might even one use some of that money for acquisitions.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Oct 2008 | 3:58 am

The Dark Knight Blu-ray Limited Edition 2-disc set comes with a Bat Pod

The regular Blu-ray edition of The Dark Knight is selling for $25 while the LE is fetching a hefty $65, but it does get you that badass Bat Pod.

TheHDRoom via Giz

Source: CrunchGear | 23 Oct 2008 | 3:45 am

Transformers theme park coming soon

According to ENI, Universal Studios have struck a deal with Hasbro and Dreamworks to bring those cuddly killing machines known as Transformers to the Hollywood-based Universal theme park in 2011. You’ll be even more surprised to know that the Universal theme park in Singapore will be getting it a full year before us. It was, after all, introduced in Asia long before the US, but it’s still a bummer.

The attraction will fuse 3D-HD media, mega special effects and stunning robotics with a ride system that will transform perceptions of theme park experiences. The rides are scheduled to make their debuts in early 2011, first at Universal Studios Singapore and then at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg are on-board as consultants to Universal to make the ride the most kickassest it can be.

via TFL

Source: CrunchGear | 23 Oct 2008 | 3:15 am

LiveRail Lets iPhone Developers Put Commercials In Apps, Get Paid

Since the launch of Apple’s App Store, developers have faced an ongoing dillema: “For Free, or Not For Free”? Putting a price on an application to generate some revenue obviously adds a significant barrier to entry, especially when there are so many free apps available. But it also adds a level of credibility - many people assume that because free apps aren’t earning money, the developers probably haven’t put much effort into them.

Today sees the launch of LiveRail for the iPhone, an advertising platform that could help change this paradigm entirely by allowing free applications to still monetize effectively. LiveRail allows iPhone application developers to embed brief video advertisements into their applications, which play immediately after launching an app (developers get paid on a CPM basis). CEO Mark Trefgame says that the platform is plug-and-play, allowing developers to implement it with a minimal amount of effort and only a few lines of code.

The technology behind the application is impressive - this isn’t just a single video that’s embedded into the application. Whenever you launch a supported app, LiveRail will attempt to contact its servers, and will stream a new ad at a bitrate dependent on your connection speed (if you’re on Edge it will download an especially small file that totals only around 60k). If LiveRail is unable to reach the server, it will just play the last ad to be cached. Developers can tag their applications to help target the ads. And in future releases the platform will support location services, so an ad could be displayed depending on what stores are nearby (imagine seeing an ad informing you that Chipotle is just down the street).

Initially, developers will likely be faced with annoyed reviews if they begin introducing these ads, but as users realize that they’re getting free apps that would have otherwise been sold at a premium, the outcry should settle down (though there would probably be serious backlash if someone tried to put ads in a paid app). And they’d better get used to it: LiveRail appears to be first to market with their video ads, but can expect competitors like AdMob to introduce similar ads in the near future.

We should also keep an eye on Apple’s response to these new ad platforms - Apple takes a cut of all premium applications sold through its store, but it absorbs the bandwidth and hosting costs for free applications, charging the developers nothing. If these ads make the one-time payment model obsolete and more applications switch to “Free”, Apple may wind up changing this structure (or even ban ‘intrusive’ advertising entirely).

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Source: TechCrunch | 23 Oct 2008 | 3:15 am

Sprint catches up with the rest, announces pro-rated ETF’s

Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile

Sprint will finally be joining the likes of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon with pro-rated early termination fees (EFTs).  The final details have still not yet been announced, but according to Chief Executive Dan Hesse, customers may be seeing the pro-rated fees as early as December.  Which means that customers who cancel their contract early will not always be stuck with that $200 fee, instead the ETF will be based on how much of the initial contract is still left.

At this point pro-rated early termination fees seem like a natural option to have, of course this news from Sprint comes with little surprise considering the other major carriers have already been doing this.  Stay subscribed, as Sprint releases more details on the new ETF’s we will be sure to let you know.

Read [Physorg]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Oct 2008 | 3:12 am

Apple: No 9600M GT capabilities for you!

Back when we announced ahead of time that Apple was switching to an NVIDIA chipset, you might have taken a look at what was then already suspected of being the new laptops’ GPU. Notice if it promises anything the MacBook Pro doesn’t have? Like say some major selling points like Hybrid SLI and on-the-fly switching between the two GPUs? That’s funny; other laptops can do it!

Apple has confirmed that the chipset and GPU are capable of working together, and of switching between modes without logging out, as well. They can’t yet, though, and no explanation was really given. Did it not work right but shipping time was upon them? That’s my guess, as a solution that requires the user to log out is incredibly annoying and very unlike Apple. Let’s hope they fix it with a firmware upgrade — you know, like they enabled my MacBook Pro’s H.264 hardware decoding.

Source: CrunchGear | 23 Oct 2008 | 2:55 am

BMW car keys could soon double as your credit card

BMW and NXP are set to demo a prototype key at the CARTES & IDentification show in Paris next month that will double as your credit card. While the concept is nothing new with the advent of those fancy little key fobs that let you pay for items with a simple swipe. We have something like that in NYC for the subways with one of the banks. It’s nice to know the automotive industry is finally getting on the bandwagon.

This is all well and good, but what if you have to pay a toll or something? You don’t exactly want to be turning the car off to take the key out of the ignition to pay for stuff. Just a scenario where I don’t think this would be ideal.

PR

Source: CrunchGear | 23 Oct 2008 | 2:38 am

Inside the World's Most Advanced Planetarium

notthatwillsmith writes "Earlier this month, the most technologically-advanced digital planetarium in the world opened in San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences. The new Morrison Planetarium's 75-foot screen replaces the traditional Zeiss projector with an array of 6 high-resolution DLP projectors arrayed around the edge of the theater, which are powered by three very different, but interesting computing clusters. The three clusters allow for projection of traditional planetarium shows, playback of ultra-high resolution movies, and display of anything from current atmospheric conditions on Earth to a (greatly accelerated) trip to the farthest reaches of the universe, all rendered in real-time on an 8800 sq. ft. dome. Maximum PC went on a behind the scenes tour with the engineers who built the systems that do everything from run the planetarium lights to the sound systems to the tech behind the screen to show you how it works and what it's like to drive, well... the universe."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Oct 2008 | 2:21 am

Don’t Hold Your Breath For The Facebook Android App

The bad blood between Facebook and Google may go deeper than anyone has really realized to date. The spat became public earlier this year when Facebook banned Google’s Friend Connect, theoretically over security issues (but really over competitive issues).

The source of the feud: Facebook chose Microsoft as their ad partner and investor a year ago; Google had already put their money behind MySpace. But beyond that, Google was also quick to compete with Facebook platform by launching Open Social with most of Facebook’s competitors, cementing the ill-will.

Now Facebook may be shooting itself in the foot to spite its face (or however the saying goes) by ignoring the new Android platform. From what we hear, Facebook has dedicated exactly zero resources to creating a version of the service for Android, and has no plans to launch anything at all. That’s despite the fact that the company has robust iPhone and RIM applications (the iPhone app was developed internally by Joe Hewitt, the RIM app was built by RIM with Facebook’s help). Meanwhile, MySpace has already released an Android version of their service.

So why no Andoid app? The official reason is that Facebook is looking to others to develop these applications. Joe Hewitt pushed the iPhone app internally, a spokesperson says, and RIM built the app themselves (but Facebook lent engineers). Google or third parties are free to use the Facebook API to build apps using Facebook services, the spokesperson said.

But the off record discussions I’m having with others at Facebook tell a different story. One source derisively called Android “vaporware” (it looks pretty real to me). Another source at Facebook says “Android sucks, it doesn’t matter.”

Sounds like they’ve reached their decision.

Update: See GigaOm’s post on this as well.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 23 Oct 2008 | 2:09 am

Luxury modeled Eee PC S101 coming November 1

Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops

The luxury styled Asus Eee PC S101 is confirmed to arrive in the US market beginning on November 1.  But if you ask me, that is where the good news stops thanks to the price: a whopping $699.  So much for the S101 continuing on the recent path of affordable netbooks.  Overall it is not a horrible model spec wise, and to be fair on the price there are others that complete at that level such as the higher end Mini-Note 2133 which retails in the ballpark of $750.

As for the guts, the S101 offers your standard netbook features which includes a 10.2-inch 1024 x 600 resolution display, an Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a multi-touch trackpad as well as a built-in webcam and card reader.  The Eee PC S101 will also offer what Asus is referring to as “hybrid storage” which includes a 30GB hard drive and a 16GB SSD.  As for the operating system, it seems Windows XP will be the only option.  Linux will be offered in some areas, but not in the US for now.

Otherwise the S101 is said to offer up to 5.4 hours of battery life, weigh in at just 2.3 pounds and will be available in either copper brown or graphite.

Via [Engadget]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Oct 2008 | 1:58 am

Email From Jason Calacanis: How To Handle Layoffs

In his latest email newsletter, Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis discusses “How To Handle Layoffs.” It is a topic he knows too well, having had to go through a layoff of 10 percent of his staff earlier today. After repeating the text of his blog post announcing the layoffs, he offers some advice for other entrepreneurs on how to do it right. The email newsletter is reprinted below in its entirety:

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Location: Mahalo HQ, Santa Monica, CA
Wednesday, October 22nd, 6:10PM PST.
Word Count: 3,381
Jason’s List Subscriber Count: 8,889
List management: http://tinyurl.com/jasonslist
Message type: Startups
Forwarding instructions: startups, VCs
Republishing: PLEASE DO NOT REPRINT
———————–

Given the challenging economic environment, we’ve decided to make some pre-preemptive cuts at Mahalo.

Although we’ve got a significant amount of cash on hand and the business is ahead of schedule in terms of traffic (4m uniques a month, double where we thought we would be at this point), we’re fairly certain that the advertising climate for the next two years will be severely depressed. To ignore this obvious fact would be irresponsible.

We’ve laid off a just under 10% of our full-time staff, cut our overhead by doing smart things like renting desks (we have six desks/offices available fyi), and reorganized our editorial department to focus on freelance positions over in-house editors. The net result of the effort is we are giving Mahalo another year of “dry powder” (or runway) to complete our mission.

We can now operate past 2012 even if we never make any advertising revenue, and truth be told, building advertising-based companies is my specialty (the last two, Silicon Alley Reporter and Weblogs, Inc. each broke 10m a year revenue between their third and fourth years). Perhaps we’re being too conservative, but I’ve rarely heard of companies that went out of business because they made cuts too early, and I’ve heard of many who have reported the opposite.

As the CEO of the company, the responsibility for these cuts is mine and mine alone. Obviously, I did anticipate that the market would correct and that is why we raised $20 million over two rounds of funding before we launched. That move ensures that Mahalo will be able to get to profitability and ride through what is sure to be a very deep and painful recession.

While I anticipated and prepared for the ‘internet winter’ we’re now facing (you’ve read my posts and e-mails about the startup depression, I’m sure), I failed to realize how bad the situation would get. It’s much worse than I thought it would be, and ignoring market conditions today would only mean deeper cuts down the road.

It’s my responsibility to make this hard decision, and I don’t take it lightly. To the people impacted, I’m very sorry that I wasn’t able to anticipate this better. It’s my fault and I’m sorry that you’ve got to bear the burden of my inability to better prepare.

Update: We still have 30 full-time folks in our office and 50+ full-time freelancers–so the reports of us cutting 1/3rd of our staff and having only 10 people are incorrect (gossip bloggers incorrect…what?!?!).

How we handled it
————————
Since many firms are rightsizing–or considering rightsizing–their operations now, I thought I’d try to explain how we handled the issue at Mahalo as openly as possible. Additionally, I thought I would go into how I handled it at my first company, Silicon Alley Reporter, where we cut our staff from 70 to 15 people over the course a long, painful year. My hope is that by getting into some of these details, I can share what I’ve learned about this painful process, and that you might be able to give me feedback on how we did and what we could do better.

The timing of the economic downturn and the need for these layoffs could not have come at a worse time for me. As many of you know, I’ve been out of the country for over two weeks visiting Athens, London and Seoul. We did 90% of reorganization while I was, quite literally, traveling around the world.

Speed
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The most important thing to realize in a situation like we’re facing is that, chances are, you cannot act too quickly, but you can easily act too slowly. For this reason, I decided that we had to come up with, and execute on, a cost-savings plan within two weeks. There is little upside in pushing out hard decisions like this slowly because of the simple fact that you’re burning gas while you’re deciding.

If you’re going to make cuts, set a time table based on analysis, strategy, debate and execution. For this process, I gave us about five days to analyze our situation and five days to develop a plan–there was some overlap obviously. We spent two days debating the right strategy and we executed the majority of the plan yesterday.

Again, there are four steps: analysis, strategy, debate and execution.

Emotion
————————
The six worst days of my professional career, on an emotional basis, were the four days I laid people off at Silicon Alley Reporter, the day I switched the name of Silicon Alley Reporter to VentureReporter, and yesterday when we did our layoffs/reorganization at Mahalo. There is nothing worse than looking into the eyes of the team that you’ve cultivated, challenged, pushed, and won and lost with, and having to tell them that they have been cut from the team. I’m sure this is how the coach of a sports team feels like at the end of training camp when many times they have to let go of great people who’ve done amazing work, but due to circumstances, they can’t keep them on the team.

It’s emotional, it’s personal, and it sucks. I’m not one to get depressed, but I would be lying if I told you that I haven’t been depressed about having to do these layoffs. While emotion is great when you’re in the heat of competition, it really doesn’t help that much when you’re doing strategy work. As such, you need to get the members of your management team to agree that you’re going to pursue your very difficult job with as little emotion as possible. If it helps, pretend you’re an outside consultant and you’ve been given the task to “save the company” with these cuts–because that’s not far off from the truth.

In other words, try and detach yourself from the emotion of the situation so you can make the right decisions. You’re going to have to tap into that emotional stuff later anyway–conserve it during your analysis and strategy.

Analysis: Assessing where you’re at and setting a goal
————————
The first step was getting out our P&L and looking at each line item in detail. For our business, we have a large editorial group, a modest technology team, almost no marketing costs except for our Mahalo Daily video show, and extremely tight overhead. We haven’t built our sales group yet, so that line item doesn’t exist. We do have some modest Google Adsense revenue which we have been testing for the past couple of months.

We had exactly three years of capital in the bank when we started this process, and while that is 2-10x the runway of most startups, I set the goal for the company to reach four years of runway. Absurd? Too conservative? Perhaps, but I’d rather be conservative until I know what exactly is going on in the market.

In order to get there, we needed to do some combination of cutting costs and increasing our revenue.

The goal was now set: four years of runway.

Analysis Part Two: Line by lining your P&L
————————
It was fairly clear in looking at our budget that we were spending two editorial dollars for every technology dollar. Our focus on editorial is what got us to four million unique visitors a month, and a nice loyal base of users at Mahalo.com, but the truth is we’ve been underspending on technology. This made it very clear to us that we had to cut the editorial spending as much as possible while maintaining the editorial integrity of our product.

The truth is that the massive editorial we’re building wasn’t getting us the bang for the buck that our technology was at *this* moment. At different points, investment in technology, editorial, or marketing can grow your business and it’s important to not get locked into a specific amount of spending on any one of those items. However, when you have venture capital–and a large amount of it–you can avoid the issue. This is the unhealthy truth about having outside investment: it distances you from the truth.

As a venture-backed entrepreneur, you have to be able see through the fog of millions of dollars of investment in order to find your way sometimes.

Question every dollar you’re spending and ask yourself: “Is there a better use for this dollar?”

When we “peeled back the onion” of our editorial spending, it became very clear that our most efficient work force was not the group of editors we had in our office, nor the remote workers we have in Manila (doing data entry type work), but rather the $10-12 an hour “remote guides” we have working from home. These editors cost us, all in, less than half of the folks in our office due to things like overhead, benefits, lunch, and equipment. The workers in Manila are half the cost of our “remote guides,” but they are 1/2 to 1/4 as effective (depending on the task).

This should have been more obvious to me since we pioneered the work-from-home model at Weblogs, Inc., where we had 300 bloggers working from home with only three or four people managing them–a 75 to one ratio (Judith Meskill actually managed 150 at one point herself God love her!).

Of course, when you’ve got a lot of venture capital and you want to grow fast, sometimes you give up on the most efficient model for a model that goes faster. That makes logical sense: overspend to take marketshare. Having people in the office was more costly, but it did get us to over four million users a month and 100,000 pages built. When folks pull up a list of “future search companies,” we’re always number one on the list because of this investment in content. So, it was well worth it.

In phase two of the company–and given the economy–we had to rethink our strategy.

Next we looked at our Mahalo Daily video show and realized that we were actually covering about 25% of the costs. Not too shabby, but not enough to justify a project that is not core. Since it is getting over two million views a month–25 million a year–it would be a shame to stop doing it. We asked ourselves how do we get this closer to break-even? It became fairly clear that cutting some costs here and getting closer to break-even–say to 50-70%–would be a good idea. As such, we moved the video editors from full-time to contract basis. Problem solved.

Strategy Part One: The obvious stuff (i.e. office space)
————————-
The most obvious things we found on our P&L were operational things regarding our facility: office space, phones, servers, etc. We swapped our communication systems out and saved $1.5k a month, we rented out a bunch of space, we cleared out some other offices to rent them, and we cut down on non-essential travel (think: my never-ending speaking gigs). The saving here was solid so we moved on to the hard stuff referred to coldly as “human capital” by accountants. People.

Strategy Part Two: The hard stuff (i.e. people)
————————-
The editorial analysis above gave us a clear area where we could save a lot of money: by moving aggressively to a freelance, work-from-home workforce. This also gave us a fairly good idea of how to handle our layoffs and cuts: try to do a reorganization where we shifted our full-time editors at our office to work at home freelancers. Instead of simply laying off a bunch of our editors we could offer them the ability to work from home as consultants.

The good news? Most of the editors took this offer to become freelancers, and in fact many of them seemed to have preferred it. Some were justifiably not happy with it.

In life, sometimes you have to learn things two or three times. One thing I’ve learned two or three times now is that writers, in large part, like to work from home in their pajamas with a big cup of coffee and their loved ones by their side. I know this to be true because most of my e-mails to you guys come when I’m sitting in the garden with my laptop, a cup of joe, and Taurus and Fondue curled up at my feet.

Must. Learn. To. Learn. From. My. Learnings.

Strategy Part Three: Revenues
————————-
We immediately started running more aggressive Google Adsense, and we doubled our revenue. Great for the bottom line, not great for user experience. We’ll keep thinking that one through obviously. Additionally, I’m personally working on five content-partnership type deals that will drive revenue. If we land one of them, we’ll cut 10% of our burn–I’m sure I can close at least one or two of them by the end of the year.

Bottom line: We’re getting focused on revenues a little earlier than we thought we would, and that’s never a bad thing in my mind. However, our goal is to build a service that has 7-10m unique visitors a month. We don’t want to get to break-even and stay for 4m for ever. That’s a nice business, but we want to build an EPIC business.

Debate
————————-
This past weekend, the day after I got back from my trip, I had my management team over to discuss what strategy we would execute. It didn’t help that I was massively jet-lagged, but we got through it. We discussed cuts and what the company would look like after the reorganization. We decided to do the cuts at the end of the week, but after making that agreement, I decided we would do them on Tuesday in order to avoid it leaking and in order to get the company focused on the product roadmap again.

The fact is, too much debate is probably not going to help. As the leader of the organization, you can take all the information in and make a quick decision. If you cut too deep, you can hire folks back, and given the economy, it’s better you secure your company’s survival right now and think about scaling up when the market gives you some signs of hitting a bottom. There is no sign of a bottom right now–despite what the clowns on CNBC might say.

The bottom is when Google and Apple miss a quarter and/or lay people off.

The bottom is when unemployment numbers go down and consumer confidence comes up (not the other way around).

The bottom is when the massive wave of variable, ARM mortgages come up in 2009.

Execution
————————-
Having done layoffs four other times there are specific mistakes I’ve made and lessons I’ve learned. They are:

1. Don’t spread layoffs over multiple rounds: This is a horrible idea because it creates massive fear and uncertainty inside of your organization. If you’re going to do layoffs, do them once, do them quickly, and explain to people that you’re doing just that. At Silicon Alley Reporter, I cut and waited for revenue to come back–it didn’t. So I cut some more and waited some more. Nothing. I did this four times and it created an environment of constant depression and fear inside the company. If I had more experience back then (I was only 29 years old), I would have looked at the 500k in revenue and said “we’re going down to 10 people and we’ll build back up as the market allows us.”

2. Don’t lay people off one at a time, do it as a group. When I did layoffs at Silicon Alley Reporter the first time, I brought people in one at a time thinking it would be more humane. I thought I’d give folks more one-on-one time. The result was that folks were waiting at their desks and talking to people on IM the whole time waiting for their call to come into my office. It’s best to ask all the affected people–and the folks not affected–to come into the room at the same time. Explain what’s happening–that you’re having layoffs or reorganizing–and let the folks who are not affected leave.

3. Don’t sugar coat it: You need to be 100% honest and up front with people about why you’re doing it and what your decision was based on (i.e. how you decided who to keep and why, what cuts you made and why, etc). Give folks as much time as possible to discuss the issues together as this is going to be very emotional and brutal for everyone involved–including you.

4. Cutting salaries over headcount is *generally* not a good idea: If you cut people’s salaries 10% across the board, everyone in the organization gets really pissed off because they either can’t cover their bills or they have to downsize their lives. You then have your best folks looking for jobs and the folks who can’t find jobs staying at the company. You just lowered your effectiveness and that sucks. It’s much better to layoff the folks you need to and keep the folks you have happy and focused on completing the mission. There are a few exceptions to this, including sales people and senior management. If you’re going to face a radically different market, you might need to reboot your comp plan for sales for everyone to feel good about it.

5. Be as generous as you can: Give severance even though you don’t have to. Vest as much extra stock as you can even though you don’t have to. Offer freelance work to as many folks as you can. Offer to give amazing references to everyone on the team and to introduce them to as many potential employers as you can. If you think there is a chance that you’ll have open positions available again at some point, offer them to people.

6. Don’t drag it out: It’s better to do these type of things at the end of the day, and if folks are done with their questions, let folks leave. Folks have families and a lot of issues to deal with, and there is no need to keep them around for the entire day or for a couple of more days. The folks who are left can clean up the loose ends.

7. Get everyone focused again: After the layoffs, you have to make sure everyone understands what the goals are–even if they haven’t changed–and get folks ready to kill it again. You can’t expect folks to not be in some form of shock for a bit, but you have explain to them that the reality is that the company must march on and complete its destiny. It gets easier over time.

Wrapping up
————————-
Frankly, I was wondering if I should even write this e-mail. It’s very personal and hard to do these things, and since I’ve done it so many times, I’m thinking these insights might be helpful to you, my loyal friends.

In related news, it’s interesting to watch the negativity and obnoxiousness of some bloggers and anonymous commenters while these layoffs have been going on. You would think that during times of hardship, folks would attempt to take the high-road and be supportive of each other. It’s amazing to me how on blogs people just lose their empathy. Almost everyone is going to be suffering during this historic time and it’s best, as a group, to support each other.

I’m so glad I moved to this cozy e-mail conversation with all of you guys.

The technology industry is a small community, I’ve learned, and when things go bad you can really tell what people are made of. Some folks are incredibly supportive while others take the opportunity to slam folks. Being an entrepreneur–creating something from nothing–is one of the hardest things a person can do. If folks are out there trying they deserve our support.

Be good to each other.

Note: Please feel free to forward this to folks you think it would help, but please don’t republish this on the web. Note: If you want to subscribe to my email list you can do so at
http://www.tinyurl.com/jasonslist
______________________________

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Source: TechCrunch | 23 Oct 2008 | 1:45 am

Honda’s motorcycle safety system being demoed in Germany

Honda is demoing a GPS-based warning system to help keep motorcycle riders safe from cars at the Car 2 Car Communication Consortium event in Germany today. The system built by Honda works with 8 other vehicle manufacturers that relay messages between motorcycles and cars with information like direction and position. Said information will be fed to riders through a HUD and in-helmet audio. Drivers will see info on their Nav system display.

They’re currently in phase four of development in Japan, but there’s no mention of how many phases there are. Honda is also testing the system in Europe and the United States.

Source: CrunchGear | 23 Oct 2008 | 1:38 am

Genetically Engineered Beer Could Combat Cancer

You can't drink away your problems, but with a new beer in research, you might be able to toast to a long, cancer-free life.

Researchers at Rice University are concocting a genetically engineered beer that could fight heart disease and cancers, ComputerWorld reports. The goal is to create a brew containing resveratrol, the same disease-fighting, natural chemical found in red wine.

The scientists are basing the premise of their project on research conducted by University of Wisconsin in June. In that study, researchers found that adding small doses of resveratrol to the diets of middle-aged mice signficantly extended their lifespans and kept their hearts healthy.

Rice researchers believe resveratrol can be more potent in beer than in wine: In order to benefit from red wine in the same way as mice, you'd have to drink half a bottle a day. (And they probably figured living a long life hungover isn't worth it.) Rice plans to develop a beer with higher concentrations of the cancer-fighting chemical.

University researchers developing cancer-fighting beer [ComputerWorld]

Photo: Ben Harris-Roxis/Flickr

 

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 23 Oct 2008 | 1:28 am

Apple Polishes Popular MacBook for a Higher Price [Personal Technology]

Apple’s MacBook laptop, the company’s low-end portable computer aimed at average consumers, isn’t just any old product. It’s the best-selling Macintosh in history, at a time when Mac sales are growing much faster than sales of PCs in the U.S. overall. And, according to the sales-research organization NPD Group, the midrange model of the MacBook has been the single best-selling laptop of any brand in U.S. retail stores for the past five months.

So, when Apple completely revamped the design of the MacBook last week, it was a big deal, not only for Mac die-hards, but for anyone shopping for an everyday laptop.

I’ve been testing the base model of the new MacBook for the past five days, and I like it a lot, despite a few downsides. I found this new MacBook to be speedy, solid, innovative, and comfortable to use, with very good battery life.

The new model sports a sturdy aluminum case, instead of the old plastic one, and looks gorgeous. And it even seemed to run cooler than earlier Apple (AAPL) aluminum laptops. It’s 10% lighter, at 4.5 pounds, and 12% thinner, at 0.95 inch, than its predecessor, and continues to include a built-in DVD drive. Its processor is slower, yet it has good performance because of much faster graphics, and it also offers a far brighter screen in the same 13.3-inch size. But it still gets strong battery life — slightly better in fact than the older model, in my tests.

Plus, the new MacBook includes a huge, innovative glass track pad that functions as a combination of a traditional track pad and the multitouch screen of an iPhone. This track pad allows all sorts of fingertip gestures you can use to navigate Web pages, manipulate photos, and switch among programs.

In another radical step, Apple eliminated the button below the track pad. When you want to perform a mouse click, you just depress the entire track pad. The whole thing is a big button, which can act as either the left or right button on a traditional mouse, and which allows easy, smooth scrolling.

Like all current Macs, the new MacBooks come with Apple’s Leopard operating system, which I consider superior to Windows. But the new MacBooks can run Windows as well. In my tests, the new model ran Windows XP beautifully. I was able to run such Windows-only programs as Microsoft’s (MSFT) Internet Explorer and Outlook right along with my Mac software, at snappy speeds. It can also run Windows Vista.

The cheaper of the two new versions comes with an adequate 160-gigabyte hard disk, though larger disks are available, and two gigabytes of memory, which is plenty for a consumer Mac.

On my tough battery test, where I turn off all power-saving features and play an endless loop of music, the new MacBook lasted three hours and 53 minutes — six minutes longer than the old one. That suggests that, in normal use, with power-saving on, you could achieve Apple’s claim of five hours of battery life, or come close.

There are some drawbacks, of course. The cheapest of the new models costs $1,299, $200 more than the cheapest of the old models. Though that’s the same price as the most popular of the older models, and you get more for your money, the swooning economy may make that price tag tougher for some families to swallow. As a hedge against this, Apple will continue to sell the base model of the old MacBook, at $999.

Another downside to the new MacBook is that the radical new glass track pad will take some time to get used to. At first, I found its surface so slippery that I had trouble accurately placing the cursor on the item I wanted to select. But three other people I asked to test this had no such trouble, and my own woes with this disappeared after a few days, either because I got more used to it, or because the surface picked up enough dirt to become less slick.

It also takes a while to adapt to the lack of a button. For left-clicking, you press the whole track pad with one finger. For right-clicking, you press down with two fingers, or you can set an option to perform right-clicking with one finger by pressing on one of the lower corners of the track pad. You can also optionally use light tapping instead of clicking, a common option on other laptops.

In addition, the model’s bright LED screen comes in only a glossy finish, which some folks hate because it displays more glare and fingerprints than the old matte screens.

Apple still stubbornly refuses to incorporate a slot for the flash memory cards commonly used in cameras and cellphones. And the new model omits the FireWire port, which some consumers used to connect older camcorders and certain external hard disks. The new model uses a common Ethernet networking cable instead of FireWire to transfer all your files and programs from an older Mac, a process I found worked perfectly.

All in all, though, Apple’s new MacBook is a terrific choice for consumers and students, if you can handle the $1,299 price.

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 | 23 Oct 2008 | 1:02 am

Turning Off Your Desktop PC [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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At work I am told to turn off my desktop PC at the end of the day. My wife’s office tells her to leave her computer on overnight. My former employer said to turn off the monitor but leave the PC on. What’s right?

Given the energy, environmental and economic crises, my view is that you should completely shut down both your computer and your monitor any time they will be unused for more than a few hours. And, of course, you should set them to go into sleep mode after they are idle for far less time than that. To be honest, I myself am not always faithful to that advice, but I am resolved to get better at it.

Of course, there are some nuances to the issue of overnight shutdowns. If you, or your company, routinely perform important operations overnight, like backups or security scans or system tune-ups, then you have to leave the computer on, but you should still turn off the monitor.

How much memory do you recommend for a new computer running Vista Home Premium?

Two gigabytes minimum, and three gigabytes if your budget can handle it. The latter is roughly the maximum that popular consumer versions of Vista (called 32-bit versions) can use.

For smooth, quick operation in common tasks, it’s been my experience that Vista demands more memory than either Windows XP or Apple’s Leopard operating system. And the need for added memory rises if your PC uses “shared” video memory, which means your graphics system lacks its own dedicated memory and relies on draining the main memory. This arrangement is common in less expensive computers.

We are planning a trip to the British Isles this summer with a side trip to Brussels. We plan to bring our iPhone on the trip. What is the current situation with using European networks? Will my U.S. AT&T account just work or do I need to make pre-arrangements? I realize my iPhone won’t be able to access the faster 3G networks over there, but can I use slower networks? Being limited to Wi-Fi would be a bummer.

The iPhone 3G can indeed handle 3G networks in Europe, though the original iPhone can handle only slower networks. Both models can use Wi-Fi there.

You will need to call AT&T before you leave, though, and “provision,” or set up, your account, for international roaming. Note that such roaming is expensive, with very high rates for both voice use and data use. AT&T has some monthly add-on plans that cut these fees, but, if I were you, I would turn off data roaming until and unless I needed it; do most email and Web surfing via Wi-Fi; and consider downloading Truphone, a voice-calling program that uses Wi-Fi instead of cellphone networks.

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 | 23 Oct 2008 | 12:50 am

AT&T’s revenues and customers increase

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones

AT&T Wireless has announced a small but significant increase in revenue in the third quarter, largely due to the iPhone. The company saw revenues rise 15 percent over revenues from the same time last year, translating into a net income of $12.6 bllion. They also saw 2.4 million activations of the iPhone, nearly half of which were new customers.

“I am particularly pleased with the customer response to the iPhone 3G,” Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “We’re expanding the market, as users adopt more data and media-rich services and access a wide array of applications.”

Unfortunately, a drop in wireline revenue has all but offset the increased revenue generated by AT&T Wireless and the iPhone. The company says wireline revenues dropped 2 percent from last year at this time. This isn’t surprising given that more and more people are dropping their landlines in favor of cell phones or VOIP services. Most telecom carriers are seeing similar drops in wireline revenues.

Whether the fourth quarter brings similar gains for AT&T’s wireless division remains to be seen. The rocky economy and new offerings from Sprint and Blackberry may very well give them a run for their money.

Read[Cnet]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 23 Oct 2008 | 12:41 am

Researchers Developing Cancer-Fighting Beer

CWmike writes "Ever picked up a cold, frosty beer on a hot summer's day and thought that it simply couldn't get any better? Well, think again. A team of researchers at Rice University in Houston is working on helping Joe Six Pack fight aging and cancer with every swill of beer." Thank you science! Now we just need cigarettes that cure baldness.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 23 Oct 2008 | 12:15 am

Mozilla Wants You to Touch Its Browser in Multiple Ways

Mozilla's Eddie Lee is cooking up a pretty neat idea for Firefox to take advantage of the new MacBooks' multi-touch trackpads. The notebooks currently understand two- and three-finger gestures to control some Apple applications, and Lee has already produced an experimental build integrating those commands into the popular Firefox browser.

Need to go back to a previous web page? Swipe to the left. Forward? Swipe to the right. Swiping up brings you to the top of a page, and swiping down brings you to the bottom. "Pinch" outward to zoom in and inward to zoom out. Here's the coolest part: Twisting two fingers left or right switches between browser tabs.

Lee's unsure whether the multi-touch implementation will appear in the next version of Firefox -- 3.1 But MacBook owners shouldn't have to wait too long since Lee appears to be mostly done with the coding.

Interested? The build, available for download at Mozilla, works with the following notebooks:

• MacBook Pro from this year (either early-2008 model or the new late-2008 ones)
• MacBook Air (both models from 2008)
• MacBook from late 2008 (the new aluminum ones)

It's too bad I don't have one of those new MacBooks: I would love to be able to switch between the 40 to 100 browser tabs I constantly have open in Firefox.

Touching FireFox [Eddie Lee via Gizmodo ]

Photo: Michael Batfish/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 22 Oct 2008 | 11:58 pm

Amazon.com profit soars but outlook and stock down (AP)

AP - Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday that its profit climbed 48 percent in the third quarter, but the company reduced its full-year sales outlook, showing that the online retailer cannot escape the weak economy. Its shares dived in after-hours trading.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 22 Oct 2008 | 11:39 pm

Philadelphia Meetings & Events Management Company to Oversee Operation of The Chemical Heritage Foundation Conference Center

The Hub, LLC announced today its exclusive management agreement with The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) to oversee all meetings and events at the new CHF Conference Center.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Oct 2008 | 11:00 pm

Diversity Lowers Parasitic Disease Chances

A U.S. study of amphibians suggests diversity itself might lower the chances of developing parasitic infections. The University of Colorado at Boulder study showed American toads who lived with gray tree frogs reduced their chances of parasitic infections known to cause limb malformations.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Oct 2008 | 11:00 pm

Search Pressed for Alaska Fishing Boat

The U.S. Coast Guard said it recovered an empty survival suit from a fishing boat reported missing off Alaska with 11 people aboard.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Oct 2008 | 11:00 pm

Colorado Governor's Office Urges High-School Students to Pursue Tech Education to Fill Vacant Jobs

In celebration of Cisco Networking Academy's 10th Anniversary, Governor Ritter's office held a press briefing today featuring the Colorado Community College System, the Colorado Department of Education, Westwood College and others.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 22 Oct 2008 | 11:00 pm

New State of Matter Could Extend Moore's Law

rennerik writes "Scientists at McGill University in Montreal say they've discovered a new state of matter that could help extend Moore's Law and allow for the fabrication of more tightly packed transistors, or a new kind of transistor altogether. The researchers call the new state of matter 'a quasi-three-dimensional electron crystal.' It was discovered using a device cooled to a temperature about 100 times colder than intergalactic space, following the application of the most powerful continuous magnetic field on Earth."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 22 Oct 2008 | 10:57 pm

Trends & Innovations (Investor's Business Daily)

Investor's Business Daily - Prisons across the U.S. are struggling to keep cell phones out of inmates' hands, as concerns grow about the phones facilitating escapes and even retaliation. One shooting suspect in Md. was able to use a phone to order a hit against a witness last summer, while in '05 two inmates used mobiles in their escape from a S.C. prison. Guards frequently supply the banned phones in exchange for bribes of about $500. S.C. wants to jam phone signals in prisons, but federal laws bar state and local agencies from interfering with federal airwaves.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 22 Oct 2008 | 10:49 pm

IT Pros Find Lack of FireWire on MacBooks Disturbing

Sleek, sexy and silver, Apple's new MacBook may be a consumer's dream machine. But to some information-technology professionals, its lack of FireWire makes it look like a nightmare.

"I've been fixing Macs for 15 years, and this to me is just a big middle finger in the face for us Mac guys," said Tom Koch, the owner of Omnitech, a Mac repair service.

Despite the slew of positive reviews for the aluminum MacBook, many potential users are complaining about Apple's peculiar omission of FireWire connectivity from the device. (The higher-end MacBook Pro has a FireWire 800 port, but the cheaper MacBook does not.) The removed feature is an annoyance to consumers who have FireWire devices — like external hard drives or camcorders — that they'd like to connect to their MacBooks. But the port's absence is a grave concern to some IT professionals who say corrupt MacBooks will be difficult to troubleshoot without it.

Specifically, the problem is that the new MacBooks are unable to start up in FireWire Target Disk Mode, which enables users to connect to the computer from another Mac, turning the target computer into an external drive. That's especially useful for diagnosing problems when the targeted computer won't even run. Without Target Disk Mode, the only alternative for troubleshooting a corrupt MacBook is to physically remove the drive, which increases the risk of losing information, said Koch. It's also more time and trouble.

"I work in a large school district that doesn't like Macs," wrote Russ Tolman, an IT professional, in Apple's support forum. "One thing that has allowed us to keep them has been the ability to image them with FireWire Ports. Also, the ability to diagnose and fix problems using Target Disk Mode. Would love to hear how I am going to do that now.... Schools without much money will be moving to cheap PCs."

Concerns over the death of FireWire on the new MacBooks surfaced before Apple even announced them. Early, leaked spy photos of the notebook's case gave away that the port was gone — a surprising move, because Apple created the FireWire interface in 1995. By 2003, the FireWire interface was on almost every computer machine. Consumers generally use FireWire to connect devices requiring high-speed data transfers, such as camcorders and hard drives — another area of concern in regard to the new MacBook. 

The lack of FireWire may trouble MacBook owners in other ways, too. If, for example, you backed up your data on an external hard drive and your MacBook crashed, you'd no longer have FireWire to easily restore that information using Apple's Time Machine recovery service. Instead, you'll have to transfer the information by USB — which is not friendly with Time Machine, Koch notes: Sometimes the backup application doesn't recognize USB drives, among other issues. 

Also, customers looking to upgrade from their old Mac to the new MacBook won't have FireWire to seamlessly copy over their data from one machine to the other. Instead, they'll have to perform this migration over an ethernet cable, which is "a drag" as some files often get lost, said James Galbraith, Macworld's Lab Director.

It remains unclear why Apple removed FireWire from the popular MacBook. One sliver of potential insight into the removal comes from a screen capture of a purported e-mail exchange between Steve Jobs and a customer. In the message, the customer complains he can no longer recommend MacBooks to his friends, because the notebook's lack of FireWire breaks compatibility with camcorders. In response, Jobs points out that most new camcorders are compatible with USB.

But it's not that simple: Most new camcorders are tapeless, hard-drive or flash-based devices, which are highly problematic with Apple's editing software.   

Apple representatives contacted by Wired.com had no comment on the new computers' lack of FireWire ports.

See also:

• Purported E-Mail From Jobs Defends Firewire's Death
• Apple Quietly Kills FireWire 400
• Steve Jobs Unveils Newer, Sexier Aluminum MacBooks

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

 

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 22 Oct 2008 | 10:27 pm

Sony Ericsson Xperia torn apart on video, piece.. by piece.. by piece

Anybody who’s still aching for the Xperia X1 to slide its way to their region might want to look away, else see the guts of their beloved handset splayed out like some sort of science project. A gent going by Cyk1 has slapped on a pair of white gloves (classy), grabbed the closest guitar pick (hey, it’s good for unlocking latches without marring the plastic), and torn the X1 down to its most basic of innards, documenting the entire process on video for all to see.

Check after the jump for the rest of the videos. Unfortunately, you’ll have to provide your own soundtrack. I recommend just putting “Weird Science” by Oingo Boingo on loop. [Via IntoMobile]

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Source: MobileCrunch | 22 Oct 2008 | 10:04 pm

Comcast Starts Offering Freaking Fast 50 Mbps Internet Service

Comcast is stepping up its internet service. The service provider that many users love to hate is rolling out 50 Mbps connections in 10 major markets across the country and will double the speeds for many existing subscribers. 

With the 50 Mbps connection users will be able to download a high-def movie (about 6 GB) in 16 minutes and a standard-definition movie (about 2 GB) in 5 minutes, says the company.

The wideband Extreme 50 service, as it is being called, will offer some of the fastest speeds available currently, claims Comcast.

Just get ready to shell out a lot more money for it. For residential users, 50 Mbps of downstream speed connection and up to 10 Mbps of upstream speed will cost $140 a month. Business users will have to pay $190 a month.

The Ultra service that offers half the 50 Mbps speed will cost $63 a month.

Comcast rival Verizon also has a comparable 50 Mbps FiOS internet service for a similar price ($140 with an existing phone connection). AT&T, though, offers a maximum of just 10 Mbps.

While a big step ahead from the existing services, Comcast and Verizon's new high-speed offering trails that of countries such as Japan, where users get an average 63 Mbps for their service.

In August, the Communications Workers of America did a national survey that showed the median real-time download speed in the U.S. is just 2.3 Mbps. That compares to the average download speed of 49 Mbps in South Korea and 17 Mbps in France.

Comcast says its 50 Mbps service will be introduced in the next few weeks to homes in parts of New England, including the Boston Metropolitan region and Southern New Hampshire, Philadelphia and New Jersey.

"Wideband will provide the capability of delivering dramatically faster speeds in excess of 160 Mbps in the future,” said Mitch Bowling, senior vice president and general manager, Comcast Online Services in a statement.

Over the next few months, Comcast expects to reach nearly 10 million subscribers through its wideband service.

Photo: (alykat/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:56 pm

Science Competition Promotes Student Inventors

Envisioning a Better Future…In ExploraVision, students envision amazing advancements in science and technology that could make the future a better place. In the 2008 competition, for instance, winning teams proposed future technologies that ranged from renewable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics to a device that could remove carbon dioxide from car exhaust.  A “Wavemaster” that would harness the power of the ocean for clean renewable energy was also created in response to the ExploraVision challenge. For their projects, student teams in 2008 researched existing technologies to conceptualize future advancements in the fields of nanotechnology, bio-plastics, genetic engineering, GPS satellite systems and more. Up to $240,000 in savings bonds will be awarded this year to student winners whose innovative ideas combine imagination with the tools of science. Toshiba laptop computers for schools and other prizes for students, teachers, and mentors will also be presented. About the ExploraVision Program…The ExploraVision program, sponsored by Toshiba and administered by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), challenges students to research scientific principles and current technologies as the basis for designing innovative technologies that could exist in 20 years. Students work in teams of two to four, and since the program’s inception, more than 246,000 students have submitted entries. This year’s top winners were selected from a group of 4,527 team entries, representing the participation of 14,042 students from the United States and Canada.  Students on the four first-place ExploraVision winning teams will each receive a $10,000 U.S. Series EE Savings Bond.  Students on second-place teams will each receive a $5,000 bond. (Canadian winners receive Canada bonds purchased for the equivalent issue price in Canadian dollars.) The eight teams will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip with their families, mentor, and coach to Washington, DC for a gala awards weekend in June 2009. Activities will include a visit to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress, a Science Showcase during which the students will display and demonstrate their winning ideas, and sightseeing. The highlight of ExploraVision weekend will be a gala awards banquet and ceremony where students will be formally recognized for their creativity and accomplishments.  For more information or an application for 2009, visit www.exploravision.org
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:54 pm

Wikipedia For Schools DVD Released

David Gerard writes "SOS Children's Villages has released the 2008/9 Wikipedia Selection for Schools — 5500 checked and reviewed articles matching the English National Curriculum, produced by SOS for use in their own schools in developing countries. The 2007 edition was a huge success, with distributions to schools in four countries, use by the Hole in the Wall education project, thousands of downloads and disks and around 6000 unique IPs a day visiting the online version — the most successful end-user distribution version of Wikipedia to date."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:54 pm

House Members Vote for iPhone Adoption

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives want their political lives in their pockets. That's right: They're demanding iPhones.

The Chief Administrative Office, which oversees communications for the House, is testing a few iPhones to determine whether the handset suits lawmakers and staff, according to The Hill.

If adopted, the iPhone would be an option in addition to Research In Motion's BlackBerry, the House's current phone of choice. Offering iPhones, however, would be a costly investment, because currently the House uses a BlackBerry Enterprise server to host its e-mail, which is incompatible with iPhone.

Gadget Lab's thoughts: This is a bad idea. We're talking about congressmen whose handsets would carry data about national security and other highly confidential information. And one of iPhone's major weaknesses is it has a host of security flaws. For example, a well known privacy leak allows any thief to easily bypass the iPhone's PIN code to access its e-mail, text messages and address book.

What do you think, Gadget Lab readers? Vote in the poll below.

iPhones are a must-have for Congress [The Hill]

Photo: Sparktography/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:53 pm

How to Do Donuts

Rev the engine, slam the accelerator and keep one foot on the clutch. Whether you're evading a tail or showing off your minivan skills, doing donuts will test your driving skills. Want to learn how to paint gravel with rubber like Bo and Luke Duke? Stunt driver Tanner Foust runs you through the steps.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:45 pm

Obamanauts Work to Turn Florida's Space Coast Blue

A dedicated group of Barack Obama supporters are pushing the senator's plans for NASA in Florida's Brevard County, home to the Kennedy Space Center and half a million residents.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:33 pm

IT Pros Irked by Lack of FireWire on MacBooks

Apple's removal of FireWire from the new MacBooks is driving some IT professionals crazy.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:30 pm

IT Pros Irked by Lack of FireWire on MacBooks

Apple's removal of FireWire from the new MacBooks is driving some IT professionals crazy.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:30 pm

Darpa Wants to See Inside Your House — From the Outside

The Pentagon wants to be able to peer inside your apartment building -- picking out where all the major rooms, stairways and dens of evil-doers are.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:21 pm

Where to Find Axles, Gears For Kinetic Sculpture?

sneakyimp writes "My brother is an architect and sculptor and wants to create kinetic sculptures powered by wind, steam, and sun. He wants to avoid electrical systems and keep this mechanical. He's prepared to cast metals for custom parts if necessary, but is hoping to find a cheap source of gears, axles, and bearings for the internal mechanical workings of these contraptions. We'll need things like miter/bevel/spur/helical gears, standard and thrust bearings, and axles." Read on below for more on the details of what sneakyimp is looking for — dismembered Capsela units won't do it.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:13 pm

Ruf's Electric Porsche Hits the Road, Slowly

It'll reach amazing speeds, but takes its time doing so.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 22 Oct 2008 | 9:00 pm

Rage Wireless Guitars Recalled Due to Chemical Burns

Play with this guitar and you might get burned.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday announced a recall for Rage Wireless Guitars -- a controller for the Nintendo Wii version of the popular music game Guitar Hero. The devices are prone to leaking AA-battery acid because of a circuit board defect, the commission said.

About 54,000 Rage guitars have been sold; one consumer has reported a burn. Purchasers of the $55 guitar should return the controller to where they purchased it for a full refund. Those with additional questions can contact Performance Designed Products at (800) 331-3844 or visit pdp.com.

That's too bad, because the guitar itself looks quite cool. Unlike normal Guitar Hero controllers, the Rage guitar's frets illuminate when you press them.

Press Release [CPSC] (Thanks, Charles!)

Photo: CPSC

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 22 Oct 2008 | 8:55 pm

A Look At Successful Game Mods

Parz writes "Mods have been an important part of gaming for well over 15 years. Not only have they provided plenty of additional free gaming to players, but they've acted as a launch pad for independent and amateur programmers to show off their skills to potential employers. This Gameplayer article highlights the programmers who are doing it best, and what mods have made biggest and most enjoyable impact on gaming. The article not only provides details for each game, but also links to the downloads, and is a great resource for those interesting in getting up-to-date with this exciting scene." Obviously, this list will seem incomplete to anyone whose favorite mod was omitted. What mods contributed most to your enjoyment?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 22 Oct 2008 | 8:30 pm

Reply to Annoying E-Mail Faster With Gmail's 'Canned Responses'

Google's free e-mail service now gives users the ability to reply to messages using one of several customized boilerplates. Stop the repetitive drudgery of retyping common replies — just choose one of your saved canned responses from a drop-down list.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 22 Oct 2008 | 8:30 pm

Official: Swedish Mine Leaking Arsenic

A gold mine in the Swedish province of Vasterbotten has leaked nearly 15 gallons of arsenic into a fresh water depository, an environmental official says. Robert Erixon, a Vasterbotten county board environmental protection official, said Dragon Mining has until Nov.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 22 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm

T-Mobile G1 getting its first Over the Air update tomorrow

Jeez! Less than 24 hours after the G1 made its official debut, T-Mobile has let it be known that an OTA update is already on its way to knock out a few issues that have popped up since the handsets left the factory. According to a post on the T-Mobile forums, it’ll make its way to handsets as early as tomorrow:

There is already an OTA update scheduled for this phone, which will be sent and installed wirelessly starting on 10/23/08, so its just thursday. this should clear up most of its issues. Hope that it does, let us know if you have any further issues. thanks for choosing t-mobile!

——Chris G. T-mobile’s Tier 3 PDA and Blackberry Support

TmoNews dug a bit deeper, and all they could find by way of patch details was the always ambiguous “enhancements” and that a bug related to Amazon MP3 playback has been fixed. They also point out that this newest build will be labeled “RC28″ - so if you don’t see anything flash up on your screen related to upgrades tomorrow, check your device info (Menu > Settings > About phone > Build number) to make sure you’re not already up to date.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 22 Oct 2008 | 7:54 pm

US's First Internet Votes To Be Cast This Friday

longacre writes "If you thought online voting in America was a distant pipe dream (nightmare?), think again: the nation's first Internet-based voting system goes online this Friday, just days after the release of the Damning Report On Sequoia E-Voting Machine Security we discussed yesterday. In the first real world run of the Okaloosa Distance Ballot Piloting (ODBP) test program, election officials from Okaloosa County, Florida have set up kiosks in Germany, the UK and Japan where 600-700 absentee voters — mostly military personnel — are expected to cast ballots. Security experts still have many questions, of course, particularly on the potential for interception of voting data while it travels across oceans (via 'secure VPN'), the security of the kiosks ('hardened laptops' with no hard drives and other sensitive components disabled) and the security of the three data centers (one of which is itself housed overseas, in Barcelona, Spain), not to mention the fact that Florida doesn't exactly have a stellar record when it comes to vote counting. Florida's Dept. of State also has a fairly detailed outline of ODBP's components and processes [PDF]."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 22 Oct 2008 | 7:44 pm

BLOG: Fall Colors From Space

Forget the road trip -- now you can watch the leaves change via satellite.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Oct 2008 | 7:35 pm

Tiny Flightless, Feathered Dino Found in China

A newly found, bizarre dinosaur may help explain the evolution of birds.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Oct 2008 | 6:35 pm

Ripped Scotch Tape Emits X-Rays

Peeling sticky scotch tape has a surprising side effect, report scientists.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Oct 2008 | 5:58 pm

Scientists Find 26 Genes That Promote Lung Cancer

New research identifies 26 genes that may predispose people to lung cancer.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Oct 2008 | 5:37 pm

Google announces Android App Market paid application details, revenue share model

With the first 21 days of October behind us, the G1’s “Official” launch day is finally upon us. With the first Android-powered handset now in the hands of giddy customers around the country, Google has provided long-awaited details about the Android App Market.

As made apparent by those G1 pre-order handsets which arrived a day or two early, the Market is live at launch. Though there was a bit of a temporary dip in the number of available apps over the weekend, the count should now be back up over 50. That number will probably explode in just a few days: starting October 27th, developers can upload their own applications.

As we’ve known for some time, only free applications will be allowed on the App Market initially. According to today’s announcement, developers will be able to distribute paid applications beginning in Q1 of 2009. In the past, Google has said that they would not take a cut of the revenue, which many took to mean that 100% of each sale went to the developer. While it is still true that Google is not taking even a single percent for themselves, 30% will go to carriers and the folks who handle billing. This leaves 70% for the developer, matching Apple’s App Store revenue share model.

The decision to push for-pay applications back to Q1 of 2009 intrigues me. While it may be true that the infrastructure for taking payments just might not be ready yet, it really works out in Google’s favor to have a few months of free. They’ve ensured that the initial onslaught of users will gobble up applications without regard. This stress tests the market itself, puts a positive experience into the user’s mind (free = happy) and, of course, sends download numbers skyward.

This is where things get interesting, folks. With Apple and Google both having their own application stores, you’ve got two entirely different approaches to the concept: one closely moderate, the other relatively unrestricted. Will the latter prove to be the mobile paradise many are hoping for?

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 22 Oct 2008 | 4:00 pm

BlackBerry Bold Comes to AT&T Finally

AT&T launches the BlackBerry Bold phone, the latest from Research In Motion, on Nov. 4, but it will carry a hefty price tag.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 22 Oct 2008 | 3:32 pm

Theorists Tackle Universe's 'Coincidence Problem'

Why does life on Earth coincide with a momentous shift in the makeup of the universe?
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Oct 2008 | 2:23 pm

Military Dogs Get New Vet Hospital

A new $15 million hospital for military dogs will help rehabilitate and train the animals.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Oct 2008 | 2:08 pm

Motorola Aura cell phone has a circular display

A few years ago on April Fool’s day, Geeks.com put up a product page for a 15-inch circular LCD monitor for $199.99 (if memory serves). The monitor looked pretty cool and everyone had a good chuckle at the thought of being able to somehow manufacture a display in anything but the shape of a square or rectangle.

Fast forward to the present day and we now see that the upcoming Motorola Aura cell phone actually will have “the industry’s first circular display,” according to a recent press release. How do you like that?

 

Circular display aside, the phone itself looks pretty nice as well if you’re into phones that make phone calls and do little else. Moto says, “Sophisticated design, high performance racing engines and the quality of a photographic print served as the perfect muses to inspire the creation of AURA.”

The phone is made from over 200 parts and the display is sapphire crystal – apparently “one of the most scratch-resistant materials on earth.” So you could probably safely throw this in the same pocket as your keys. No word on pricing yet, but the front part of the phone is made by hand and takes two weeks to create, so it’s pretty safe to assume that this thing won’t be $49.99 with a two-year contract. Think more in the high hundreds to thousands of dollars.

It’ll be available worldwide in the fourth quarter.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 22 Oct 2008 | 2:00 pm

India Launches to the Moon

India joins the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and China in launching a mission to the moon.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Oct 2008 | 1:25 pm

Bird Sets Record With 7,257-Mile Flight

The athletic bar-tailed godwit breaks the record for the longest non-stop bird flight.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 22 Oct 2008 | 1:05 pm