Source: Gizmodo | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:59 pm

UPDATE 5-Chevron profit tops Wall St., spending seen steady

(Adds investor comments paragraphs 11-13, updates shares)
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:58 pm

Tablet BrickBook! Third party, of course, and expensive as hell

If you really like explaining things to strangers, you’ll love having one of these. Because every passer-by will stop, think, and then ask the obvious question. And you’ll have to talk about where you got it and how much it cost and why hasn’t Apple done this yet, blah blah blah. If you’re prepared for that, this looks pretty hot. They’ll take the brand new aluminum MacBooks (not MBPs yet, I think) and turn them into the kind of tablet you wish was already on offer.

It’ll cost you $1300 for the privilege, though — and that’s not including the laptop you have to buy. I guess that’s the price you have to pay to be the coolest kid on the block. That is, until the real multi-touch sub-$1000 Mac tablet hits the market. So basically forever.
[via the Register]

Source: CrunchGear | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:45 pm

Bogus Robocall Tells Floridians They Can Vote By Phone

The residents of Broward County, Florida, have recently received misleading robocalls telling them that they can vote by phone on Election Day, according to a report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Friday. This call is one of several dirty tricks being pulled off in the last days of the 2008 election.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:37 pm

Tens of Thousands View DressLikePalin Web Site

Internet browsers weigh in - $150,000 on wardrobe could have been spent on healthcare, housing OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 62,000 viewers have ...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:32 pm

Wassup 2008 [Digital Daily]

Presidential election version

Source: All Things Digital | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:27 pm

ASUS and Intel Launch Collaborative PC Design Site

Jupix writes "There's an interesting new community by ASUS and Intel called WePC. It enables anyone to post their dream PC including not only function, but form as well. You can draw up your dream and describe it in words, and also fiddle with some predetermined properties. No doubt the two companies are looking for common configurations so they can implement them in future products, but according to the press release, even individual designs may get the two companies' backing."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:27 pm

Advanced Trojan Virus Compromises Bank Info

A virus described as "one of the most advanced pieces of crimeware ever created" was responsible for the theft of around 500,000 online bank accounts and credit and debit cards, the RSA said.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:15 pm

Love Your iPhone? Wear It

Halloween certainly brings out the crazies in all of us, and iPhone junkies are no exception. DVICE rounded up a list of 10 best iPhone costumes, and the photo above is our top pick. Our second and third favorites are below the jump.

They look way better than that union protester's iPhone costume, huh?

   

10 best iPhone costumes [DVICE]

Photos: DVICE

 

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:12 pm

UPDATE 1-Rowan CEO to retire after 34 years at company

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Rowan Cos Inc
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:10 pm

Tech Cemetery: The 3Com Audrey

Section: Computers, Hardware, Gadgets / Other, Household, Lifestyle, Originals

A computer that did little but browse the web and do some mundane tasks?  That will never work.  Back in 2000, 3Com (remember them?) came out with the computer for people who didn’t want a full-fledged computer.  The 3Com Ergo Audrey was the device and it never stood a chance.

Take a look at this piece of engineering.  The Audrey had a touch screen, ran its own OS and could sync to Palm Pilots.  It even had an IR keyboard so you could type e-mails or URLs easily. 

Designed for women, the Audrey was meant for the kitchen.  (No, I’m not being sexist, that was the actual plan).  Now that I think about it, the kitchen is still one of the spaces in the home where computers still are not greatly accepted.  The device was supposed to be your computer in your home’s hub where you could leave information.  Think of it like the front of a refrigerator but in computer form.

The Audrey was available for only a couple of months (from October, 2000 to June, 2001) while the bubble burst on that whole dotcom era.  One of the creators of the Audrey believes that it would have survived had the market place been healthier.

I keep an Audrey in my house, but it’s not a 3Com.  My wife and I named our first dog “Audrey.” She asked for a name, and the first thing I thought of was the 3Com Audrey.  If you want a 3Com Audrey, you can pick one up on eBay for under $50. 

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:09 pm

HALLOWE'EN

GREETINGS. This is John Hodgman writing at the witching hour (5:48PM EST).

It is Hallowe'en, and thus time to CRACK THE CRYSTAL SKULL at last.

Please see the enclosed video.

That is all.

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:07 pm

MTS Announces Fiscal 2008 Earnings Release and Conference Call

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MTS Systems Corporation (Nasdaq: MTSC) will release its fiscal 2008 results on November 13, 2008 after market...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:05 pm

Mformation sues RIM for patent infringement (Reuters)

Reuters - Handset management software firm Mformation Technologies said on Friday it has sued BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, claiming patent infringement.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:03 pm

Review: T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Blackberries? Well, I do.

The Pearl series will never have a place in my pocket, but 70 percent of the population in the US who own a mobile phone carry a clamshell. To bridge the gap between the consumer sector and business sector, RIM introduced the Pearl and Curve models. The Pearl Flip 8220 is the device RIM hopes will saturate the market even further.

This won’t be a traditional review in the sense that I asked a current Pearl owner whether or not he would switch and what he thought about the Flip version.

Breken, a friend with a Pearl, pointed out what he did and didn’t like about it compared to his Pearl 8120.

Pros

Bigger screen
Bigger keypad
Spellcheck
Call quality was on par with his current Pearl

Cons
Feels cheap
The sunken trackball is awkward to use
It seems a lot bigger compared to the older Pearl because of its form factor
The font on the keyboard itself seems off

Me: Would you trade your Pearl 8120 for the Flip?
Breken: No.

Product Page

Source: CrunchGear | 31 Oct 2008 | 10:00 pm

TED talk about cool materials for toys and other uses

This is a fun TED talk: "The Inventables guys, Zach Kaplan and Keith Schacht, demo some amazing new materials and how we might use them. Look for squishy magnets, odor-detecting ink, "dry" liquid and a very surprising 10-foot pole." Keith Schacht & Zach Kaplan: Products (and toys) from the future

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:59 pm

Former McAfee employee arrested (AP)

AP - A California woman and her husband have been arrested on suspicion of misappropriating millions of dollars from software provider McAfee Inc.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:55 pm

How to Descend a Mountain on a Bike

There's nothing like whipping down the side of a mountain on two wheels, and it's an especially pleasant reward after the hard-fought climb to the top. But it's a feat as dangerous as it is fun. Here are our tips for keeping the rubber side down — and keeping out of the ER. Got extra advice? Edit our How-To Wiki and share your knowledge.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:45 pm

Miyamoto Struggles to Sell Inscrutable 'Wii Music'

Nintendo's new music game isn't the wildfire hit everybody expected. That's because it's nothing like Rock Band and Guitar Hero — and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:44 pm

Google Sheds Light On 'Dark Web' With PDF Search

CWmike writes "Google this week took another step in its effort to shed light on the so-called Dark Web, announcing that its search engine can now search scanned documents in a PDF. In April, Google announced that it was looking for ways for its search engine to index HTML forms such as drop-down boxes or select menus that otherwise couldn't be found or indexed." An announcement is available at the official Google blog, and it contains some demonstration searches.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:40 pm

Bombproof Bins Recycle, Reduce, Protect

New bombproof waste bins to be planted throughout London will address not only the city's security concerns, but environmental issues as well.

Designed to absorb the heat of explosions, the armored receptacle collects trash and recyclable materials in separate compartments. It also displays a weather-proof LCD screen streaming news and travel information, according to a Times Online story.

In 2009, London plans to install hundreds of the bins, which will be provided by British start-up Media Metrica. Called "Renew," the bombproof bin will cost about $50,000 per unit.

Ever since the 1991 IRA bombings in London, police have been removing public trash cans as a security measure in case they contain explosives. Of course, this results in fewer receptacles for citizens to dispose of their trash, encouraging them to litter. The goal of the Renew bin is to eliminate the need for this security measure and keep the streets cleaner.

Product Page [Renew Solution]

Image: Media Medtrica

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:25 pm

SkyMall meets Power Wheels: hand-crank kids’ ride-on train

Got a few thou lying around? Have an enormous rec room you feel like running rails through? Why, then, this ride-on, hand-cranked kid’s train and tracks should suit your fancy just fine. The tracks run in a 30-foot circle (not sure if you can customize them) and the cars can hold up to 100 lbs. Personally, I’d rather get my kids a sweet Power Wheels ATV for like a twentieth of the price.
[via OhGizmo!]

Source: CrunchGear | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:25 pm

$20 kit produces trillions of universes

Are you willing to take on the responsibility that comes with bringing trillions of universes into existence, each teeming with sentient life? That's something to ponder before plunking down $20 for this make-your-own-universe kit, created by artist Jonathon Keats.

If two events are possible, quantum theory assumes that both occur simultaneously - until an observer determines the outcome. For example, in Schrödinger's famous thought experiment, in which his cat may have been killed with a 50 per cent probability, the cat is both alive and dead until someone checks. When the observation is made, the universe splits into two, one for each possible outcome. For example, Schrödinger's cat would be alive in one universe and dead in the other universe.

According to the theory, any kind of measurement causes the universe to split and this is the basis of Keats' new device. His universe creator uses a piece of uranium-doped glass to create a steam of alpha particles, which are then detected using a thin sliver of scintillating crystal. Each detection causes the creation of a new universe.

The make-your-own-universe kit

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:23 pm

Condé’s Going-Away Present for Fired Portfolio Editor: A Book Party [MediaMemo]

After announcing staff cuts yesterday, Condé Nast’s Portfolio has begun handing out pink slips. I’ve been told the following people are out so far:

• Ken Wells, senior editor
• Jeff Garigliano, senior editor
• Jeff Van Dam, associate editor
• Mary Bridges, reporter
• Paul Smalera, staff writer

Ken Wells is the most high-profile name of bunch. He’s a Pulitzer finalist and a longtime Wall Street Journal vet (like many of Portfolio editor Joanne Lipman’s hires).

He’s also a prolific author; his most recent book, “The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous: Fighting to Save a Way of Life in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina,” came out last month. Portfolio hosted a book party for him just this week, an incredulous colleague tells me.

Meanwhile, employees at Portfolio.com still don’t know who’s staying and who’s going. One of them tells me that half the 23-person staff will be let go at the end of November and the rest will stay through December.

At that point there will be a skeleton crew of three people, though there is unconfirmed talk that Condé may end up keeping at least a couple high-profile bloggers, like media reporter Jeff Bercovici and financial columnist Felix Salmon.

Tips? Please drop me a line: peter@allthingsd.com.

Source: All Things Digital | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:08 pm

Twitterers Stage Mock Martian Invasion a la 'War of the Worlds'

A blitz of tiny messages document an extraterrestrial rampage in real time. Orson Welles would be so proud of the microblogging tricksters.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:05 pm

Yahoo Video: You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby [Digital Daily]

The economic crisis has been as much a boon for Yahoo as a bane. Earlier this week, we noted that Yahoo’s share of the search market had increased slightly, thanks to investors obsessively checking Yahoo Finance and its Stock Message Boards. Yahoo Finance had 19.9 million unique users in the month of September, according to comScore–an all-time high for the site (see chart; click to enlarge).

It seems that morbid interest in the stock market’s decline is driving up Yahoo (YHOO) video streams, as well. The much diminished Internet major claimed 265 million video streams in September, a 56 percent increase over the 169 million it claimed in August. And that puts it in the No. 2 spot on Nielsen Online’s monthly VideoCensus. Impressive, no? Presumably, October will be even better, given the upcoming presidential election.

That said, as in search, Google (GOOG) is the one to beat in Web video. The company’s YouTube property served up an astonishing 5.3 billion streams.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Yahoo Search Market Share Apparently Inversely Related to Yahoo Share Price

Source: All Things Digital | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:02 pm

Review: Samsung Rant (Sprint)

Quick Version: The Samsung Rant is an excellent phone for text messaging addicts who want to be able to do a bit of light web browsing over a high speed data network but don’t want all the feature overload of a full-fledged smartphone. And at $49.99 with a two-year contract, it’s priced to move.

Click through for the full review.

Overview and Features

• Full slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Sprint One-Click user interface
• GPS, stereo Bluetooth, high-speed data
• Two-megapixel camera
• Won “Best Cell Phone” award at CTIA 2008
• $49.99 after instant savings, a $50 mail-in rebate, and two-year contract

Good for…

…people who send text messages or e-mail all day long. Sprint bills this phone as “the ultimate texting machine” and, while that might be a slight misnomer (everyone knows the ultimate texting machine would be some sort of robot that answered all your e-mails and text messages, showed emotion, and was capable of rational thought), I found the Rant to come pretty close thanks to a great keyboard and simple UI.

It’s a good choice for the person who likes the idea of a smartphone or a pocket PC (or whatever they’re called now) but doesn’t want to deal with all the features. There’s no touchscreen here, there’s no stylus, and there aren’t menus buried within menus buried within menus. It’s just a phone with a little added kick. It’s not that bulky either. There’s a little junk in the trunk thanks to the keyboard but it’s not that noticeable; the Rant will fit in all but the tightest of pockets.

The UI that Sprint loaded on the Rant works pretty well because you can customize it to your liking. The main screen is made up of a series of “tiles” that, when selected, display a few various programs that you can launch. For instance: the Google tile.

Hey, I use Google! When I first selected it, up popped selections for Google Maps, Calendar, G-Mail, Notebook and YouTube. Well I don’t really use Notebook and I’m not a big YouTube-on-your cell phone guy, so I replaced those two options with Google Reader and Google Calendar. You can do similar things with the other tiles. Nice.

Not so good for…

…people who want a more robust online experience. The actual web browser will do in a pinch, but you’re not going to sit and surf from site to site on your phone for very long. That’s a minor gripe, though, as I didn’t find too much I didn’t like about this device. I never thought I’d get along with a non-smartphone, yet here we are. The only thing missing for me is a better browsing experience, but that’s not what this phone’s all about and it’s, admittedly, expecting too much out of a $50 device.

Conclusion

Great phone, great keyboard, great price. It’s perfect for text-happy kids and also for adults who want e-mail and text messaging without all the other smartphone hoopla.

Samsung Rant [Sprint.com]

Source: CrunchGear | 31 Oct 2008 | 9:00 pm

Happy Halloween from your favorite monsters

From all of us to all of you, have a happy and scary Halloween. If you have a minute, tweet “trick or tweet” to Greg. He loves it!

Source: CrunchGear | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:58 pm

The haunted PC

Section: Computers

Since it is Halloween, Gadgetell is taking a look at some the tech horror stories our writers have experienced.  Here is one tale.

In my house, we usually built our own computers; we had, at most, two computers that were purchased pre-built.  The second computer we built did everything it was supposed to.  It connected to the Internet and could be used to write school reports on.  Not to mention it handled “Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion” almost perfectly (if you were willing to take away some of the draw distance).

The computer had many hours logged into it, the hard drive was maybe three quarters filled.  Oblivion and Civilization IV took care of most of that for me.  My brother used it to go online, and my grandmother used it every hour we weren’t there to play her casino games.  It had served us well. 

That was until the one morning when we awoke to something we were quite used to.

I went to turn on the computer.  I turned on the monitor, pressed the power button and nothing.  Okay, that didn’t seem abnormal.  Next, I unplugged the power supply, plugged it back in after a few seconds, and the screen still showed nothing. 

I could hear the processor’s fan running, everything seemed fine, it just wasn’t working.  I took note of it, and told my father of it later.  I told him we probably needed a new power supply.  For some reason, each of our computers went through about two or three power supplies before it was retired.

So my father came over with the new power supply a day or two later.  He had become a pro at this and replaced it within a few minutes.  Turned on the computer, same thing.  The monitor displayed nothing.  We were puzzled, but thought maybe the graphics card had gone bad. 

Coincidentally, my father had an Nvidia 8800 in his car that he was going to put into his next PC.  He brought it in, replaced the 8600 that was in the machine, and tried it.  Still, the computer displayed black.

A week had passed before we tried it again.  I had resorted to using the Internet at school despite its slower connection.  It was still something.  Though I was missing my Kajiit and the land of Cyrodiil.  I was beginning to wonder when I would have a PC of my own again.

When we tried again we took out our old PC and tested the monitor.  The old eMachine displayed on the monitor, so that possibility was out.  We took out the RAM and replaced it thinking it was a long shot, but it still didn’t work.

My father took the PC to his house to fix it.  He replaced the hard drive, DVD drive, processor and motherboard and brought it back.  We put it back on the desk in the kitchen plugged everything in and turned it on.  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  We had replaced the entire machine aside from the case and still nothing worked.

There was only one option: the case must be the problem.  We consulted with every other computer person we knew, and nobody had heard of such a thing.  It has since been forgotten in a garage, moved to a basement and gutted.  Sometimes we try to revive it only to realize that the case simply does not want to be used anymore.  It may have gone into one too many Oblivion gates.

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:44 pm

The $12 DIY remote control receiver (for your computer)

This is completely beyond my abilities as a whatever, but perhaps you’re handy with The DIY? It’s a step-by-step on how to create a USB-based remote control receiver. Or, in English: you plug this doodad into your PC and then you’re able to use a remote control (“channel changer” or “clicker”) to control your media player.

The methodology can be applied to Windows, Mac and Linux-based systems.

The best part is that the whole setup costs $12 to create. Even I have $12!

via Make Blog

Source: CrunchGear | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:40 pm

Beauty Benefits Female Candidates, Study Shows

In politics, a stubborn double-standard for the importance of beauty endures.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:31 pm

How-to: Capture the screen of an Android device

After we posted our first Android speed review, we got a handful of e-mails asking us how we managed to take screenshots directly off of the device. We looked around at a handful of other blogs - sure enough, the vast majority of them had fallen back to pointing a camera at the device’s screen and snapping away. While that’s slightly better than drawing the image on paper and scanning that in, we’ve got a better solution.

What you need:

• An Android device. At the time this was published, that probably means a T-Mobile G1
• USB Data cable for the device (For the G1 at least, it’s included in the box)
• Any computer which has USB and is compatible with the Android SDK (Windows, OS X, or Linux)

How to take the shots:

1. Download and install the Android SDK. Don’t worry - unlike some SDKs, installing the Android kit is completely straightforward.
2. Enable USB Debugging on the device by going to Settings -> Applications -> Development and checking the proper box.
3. Plug the Android device into the USB port.
4. Find the folder containing the SDK you just installed. The location will vary depending on which operating system you’re using, and where you chose to install it. On all platforms, the folder name should begin with “android-sdk-”. For example, the folder for the current build on OS X is “android-sdk-mac_x86-1.0_r1″
5. Open the tools folder within the Android SDK folder.
6. Double click the file titled “DDMS”. This stands for Dalvik Debug Monitor Service.
7. In DDMS, your device should be listed. Highlight it by clicking on it.
8. In the application’s top menus, go to Device -> Screen capture.

You should be good to go. Use the handset to navigate to whatever screen you want a shot of, press the “Refresh” button to recapture the screen, and once you’ve got it just right, hit the “Save” button. Once you’ve gone through it the first time, the process is actually easier than busting out the point-and-shoot.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:31 pm

Gadget Lab Podcast #52: Flexible Displays As An Instrument of War Could End Up in Your Pocket

In this week's Wired Gadget Lab Podcast, Daniel Dumas, Brian Chen and Priya Ganapati talk about flexible displays being developed by the U.S. Army. Using e-Ink technology, these displays are 100 times more power efficient than LCDs, are touch-compatible, and could eventually allow you to roll up the whole Google Earth inside your pocket.

In addition, they will go over Brian and Charlie Sorrel's netbook hacking competition, which is destined to end up as an Apple fanboy-style fight with little claws of fury.

Finally, they will go over two of the week's best reviews from our new Product Reviews site, the newest version of the Dell XPS-One All-in-One PC, and a collection of Halloween-themed gadgets.

Thank you for listening to the podcast. Please remember, if the embedded player above doesn't work, you can download the Gadget Lab podcast MP3 file.

Use iTunes? Subscribe to the Gadget Lab Audio Podcast in iTunes.

Also be sure to check out the Gadget Lab Video Podcast -- on iTunes and on the Gadget Lab blog.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:24 pm

“Etch” a design on a Moleskine notebook

Yes, I know you have one. It’s okay, I have one too. Difference is, I don’t write sissy poetry in it and do weak sketches of girls I’ll never talk to — like you do. Anyway, I’ve always been deathly afraid that, considering how ubiquitous the little notebooks are, if two or more are in one place it’d be extremely easy to accidentally switch them. And you can imagine how embarrassing that could be. For you, not me; mine’s filled with manly stuff like drawings of knights fighting ninjas. So to avoid confusion, why not personalize yours on the outside?

This guy had the great idea to permanently impress a monogram on his moleskine, and I think it really is as easy as cutting out a shape in some plywood and pressing it and the notebook together under some weight for half an hour. I think you need a pretty precise saw (read: laser) to make something pretty (as a gift for instance), but a bandsaw should be sufficient to make your initials in block letters.
[via MAKE]

Source: CrunchGear | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:20 pm

Jaxtr CEO Is Out

Two weeks after laying off 30 percent of his employees, Jaxtr CEO Konstantin Guericke finds himself out of a job. He is being replaced by vice president of engineering Bahman Koohestani (former CTO at Cyworld and Orbitz), who will be acting as “interim” CEO.

Jaxtr offers VoIP calls to both your regular and mobile phone. Its last round was a $10 million Series B in June. Investors include Lehman Brothers Venture Capital (yup, they are still around), August Capital, Mangrove, Mayfield, DFJ, and angels Ron Conway and Reid Hoffman. (Guericke was part of the founding team at LinkedIn).

The company is obviously going through a rough time, but Koohestani still spins it as a “very healthy” business. He offers the following partial stats:

On average paying members go through $10 worth of jax calling credits in just nine days, leading to strong repeat purchase behavior where now 68 percent of our minutes are now paid for and we are seeing a strong commitment to purchase premium memberships. 43 percent of our new buyers opt for a premium membership. This is a predictable revenue stream, which is subscription-based.

That is great that such a high percentage of Jaxtr’s phone minutes are being paid for. The unanswered question, unfortunately, is whether the amount Jaxtr charges covers its costs.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm

Pork Producers: EPA CAFO Rule to Have Big Impact

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Calling it a "tough but fair rule" that sets a high environmental standard for livestock producers, the National Pork Producer Council today praised the U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm

Diet Does Not Prevent 'Odorprint' ID

Diet may influence odor profiles but does not prevent identification of genetically determined odortypes, U.S. researchers say.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm

Sprint: Early cancelation fee drops $10 each month

Sprint is diligently patting itself on the back today, having forever changed the way we think about canceling cellphone contracts. Starting on November 2, for every month you stay faithful to your Sprint contract after the sixth month, the company knocks $10 off the early termination fee. The fee, which is $200 at the outset, is allowed to drop to as low as $50.

This new policy does not apply to contract entered into before November 2. If you’re already a Sprint customer, you can renew your contract after that date and then you’d qualify for the deal.

Now, what phone in Sprintland would be compelling enough for you to switch over there, I have no idea.

Source: CrunchGear | 31 Oct 2008 | 8:00 pm

HorrorScope iPhone App Predicts Your Ill Fate

The iPhone App Store's flooded with plenty of Halloween applications, but HorrorScope is the only one I've found that isn't all that cheesy.

As its name implies, it's a horoscope reader, only it tells you about all the horrific stuff that's going to happen to you each day.

"Count your blessings," reads my Scorpio HorrorScope for Oct. 26. "If you had survived the attack, you would have contracted rabies, and it takes like 20 injections to cure that."

Pretty funny app -- probably one you'll delete immediately after Halloween -- but it's free, so why not give it a try?

Download Link [iTunes]

Screenshot: Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 31 Oct 2008 | 7:58 pm

A Spot Of Trouble At Spot Runner

There is no escape from the advertising recession. Not even for hotshot TV advertising startup Spot Runner. Despite having raised more than $111 million, half of that as recently as last May, the LA-based company may be in for a major round of layoffs next week following the election (and the associated last-minute media blitz).

As many as 25 percent of its more than 300 employees may find themselves without a job come next Thursday. While the exact number has not yet been determined, I have been able to confirm that the company is currently going through a cost-reduction planning process and is looking at all options in light of the deteriorating advertising environment.

Any job cuts would be on top of an earlier round of layoffs last August, which resulted in 50 people losing their employment. Another 50 or so subsequently left on their own account. According to one former employee who quit, morale is low and a sense of disillusionment permeates the company, at least among the engineers. That’s not a good thing for a tech company. This engineer describes Spot Runner as being more of a tech facade for a regular ad agency.

Spot Runner ramped up employees too fast in a rush to grab market share before Google gets truly serious about the same Web-mediated TV advertising opportunity. Now, it has to worry more about making its cash last and getting to profitability. The number of expected cuts among employees is another 50 to 75. But, again, our understanding is that the exact number has not yet been finalized. When and if job cuts occur, we will add them to our Layoff Tracker.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 31 Oct 2008 | 7:48 pm

VCs Put the Brakes on Early-Stage Startups

Venture capitalists claim the money is still flowing in Silicon Valley, but entrepreneurs say it just ain't so. The only companies that are getting money right now are big, established businesses or startups founded by repeat entrepreneurs. In Silicon Valley, the so-called center of innovation, it now takes more than a good idea to raise a buck.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 31 Oct 2008 | 7:44 pm

Philips Shows Off Green Tech Prototypes, Including Smart Light Pole 'Blossoms'

Philips recently unveiled their version of a green-tech future at a Moscow conference, including an intelligent LED street pole system that looks like a flower opening up to the skies.

The so-called 'Philips Light Blossoms' charge up on solar and wind power during the day, light up when people stroll by at night, and to conserve energy, dim down when the streets are solitary from dusk 'til dawn.

For the last few years, Philips' Simplicity Event has been the place where the company thinks big and throws up a bunch of design concepts at the wall to see what sticks, as well as a preview of gadgets they’re actually working on. However, putting up a Green Tech event in the middle of one of the world's largest beneficiaries from oil production makes it seem a bit shady. But that's a story for another blog.

Here are some of Philips' other 'future life' scenarios found at the conference:

 

The Interactive Kitchen Table is a touch-enabled slab that pushes out recipes on its surface and allows kitchen gadgets to talk together. Presumably, the table will include useful features like measuring the weight of a plate, cooling or heating pans, and advising you on correct food choices.

There's no word on whether a giant robot arm will pop out of its digital innards and swipe a giant KitKat from your greasy fat palms.

This gadget regulates the breathing of those who suffer from sleep apnea or other breathing disorders. When the device notices irregularities (like if you're sucking in too much air through your mouth), it pushes out air pressure and conducts air through your nose properly.

The energy-saving Wake-up Light lamp is supposed to have similar properties to the 'blossom' with smart dimming. Another similar light concept (but in a more elegant, spherical design) can be seen at the bottom of this post.

 

Philips will release frameless HDTVs with a combination of colorful, patterned removable frames called Flavors, for TVs of 22, 32 and 42 inches. This idea is bound to be a favorite with girls from the age of 6-10 for a significant period of time (maybe 5 weeks?) after which the Flavor frames will end up scuffed, broken, and firmly a part of Fido's chew toy cycle.

Looking Glass frames are smallish video message-dedicated displays that allow you to leave a message for a loved one even if they’re not in the house. But video voicemail is already being incorporated into software and giants like Google, Microsoft, and Apple won’t let a hardware-only company take on this type of service by itself.) Already, MS has a voice mail service connected to their own webcam.

The Intellipatch wireless cardiac monitor comes with built-in Bluetooth radio sends detailed heart data to your cell phone, which updates in real time to a heath data center in the cloud. Any irregularities would be immediately accessed by doctors in case of an emergency. They’re shooting for a 36-hour limit on one charge for the battery.

And this one is my favorite design from this conference, mainly because the German Institute of Design and Ergonomics worked tirelessly, for months, to create the best wrist action design possible for a vacuum. That's right. All that work for the best wrist positioning. And if vacuuming is as fun as the model is making it look like in this picture, you know the future is in good hands.

Here are other pics from the conference (from Philips):

Photos courtesy of Philips and HardwareStore

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 31 Oct 2008 | 7:41 pm

Trade all your gadgets for an iPhone?  These folks did.

Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Communications, Cellphones, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile

Tough times call for tough actions.  It seems in light of all the economic bad news, lower income folks are ditching gadgets to have just one: the iPhone 3G.  Who needs two iPods?  Who needs a netbook?  Who needs a home phone line?

Indeed, one could argue the iPhone is just a tethering application away from ditching your home line, your broadband connection, your cable or satellite company, heck—even books are not able to escape all the niches Apple’s wonder child can get its hands on.  My thinking here is tethering would allow you to use your laptop/desktop via the iPhones 3G connection, so you can ditch the $25 per month + for broadband.

Cut costs and rationalize iPhone spending

According to the Wall Street Journal,

“We see that lower-income consumers are increasingly turning to mobile devices to access the Internet, to listen to music and for email,” said Mark Donovan, senior analyst at comScore. ”

The numbers behind this blew me away:

Ownership of the iPhone rose 48% from June 1 to the end of August among households earning between $25,000 and $50,000 a year, compared to 21% overall, the study showed

Clearly, the iPhone hit the sweet spot in pricing.  But can it really shift consumer demand from broadband access?  The WSJ reported increases for these lower income households in web browsing and listening to music, but e-mail use lagged.  That could be explained by text messaging become more prevalent among younger users.

Last time I checked, 3 out of 5 Gadgetell editors owned iPhones.  Any of you guys think you could survive just on the iPhone for your home computing/music/entertainment needs if tethering were possible?

Source: [Wall Street Journal]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 31 Oct 2008 | 7:11 pm

Sprint changes mind, decides to hold onto Nextel iDEN

I’d imagine things are a bit awkward at the Sprint/Nextel camp today. After spending the last few months fielding offers for Nextel, Sprint has announced that they’ve decided to hang on to it.

Not only are they no longer planning on offloading it, but they’re also reupping their commitment to the iDEN network by promising all around improvements. Beyond expanding the iDEN network by way of more towers, they’ll be tag-teaming with Motorola over the next year, with plans to bring at least 8 handsets to market by the end of 2009.

[Via MobileBurn]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 31 Oct 2008 | 7:08 pm

QOTD [Digital Daily]

QOTD

As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on market speculation or rumor about our finances. Facebook is well-positioned both financially and within the market and any thoughtful attempt to model our business should reflect that. Our advertising business has great depth and breadth. While no ad business can ever be 100% recession proof, the breadth of our advertiser base and the innovative products we offer bolster our position in the current cycle. We’ve also been closely managing the business so we can continue to hire great people and scale. While we’ve achieved certain milestones, we are deeply committed to even greater business success in the future.”

– Facebook calls BS on rumors of its financial troubles.

Source: All Things Digital | 31 Oct 2008 | 7:04 pm

Email error on road sign

The Welsh portion of this sign reads, ""I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated."" Email error on road sign

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 7:02 pm

CrunchGear Takes a Closer Look at the Chevy Volt

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

Source: TechCrunch | 31 Oct 2008 | 6:58 pm

Today on Boing Boing Gadgets

Today on Boing Boing Gadgets, there was the usual spurting of Halloween themed posts: a little boy dressed as Wall-E's Eve, a spinal cord beer funnel, some cute Pac-Man pumpkins and the awesomest little boy mech walker costume. Otherwise, we started the day by watching two robots box and do their best Lou Bega impression. We looked at a futuristic car straight out of an MGM cartoon, and as agony aunts cackled over Apple's blunders. There was a baby carriage for larval Slim Pickens, and an examination of a modern-day masturbation table for the treatment of "hysteria" / "stress." In realer tech news, Brownlee despaired that the new PSPs are hacker proof, while Rob looked at a joystick for sweaty gamers. Rob spotted a fax machine that can send and receive email, and a keyring that infinitely simulates the fun of popping bubble wrap. There was an expensive sudoku watch with only one puzzle, and Beschizza got all sweaty when looking at a tiny wireless router that plugs into any antenna. Otherwise, Asus threw a customer in jail for threatening to report their shitty tech support to the press, and we stole a tank as Barack Obama. And, as always, much more besides. Link

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 6:41 pm

Travel Trouble: Expedia’s Woes Pressure Orbitz, Priceline [Voices]

By Eric Savitz, Blogger and Columnist, Barron’s, Tech Trader Daily

The online travel booking business is not going to survive an economic downturn unscathed. That’s not a surprising statement, but confirmation of those sentiments yesterday from Expedia (EXPE) has the Street scurrying to revalue the online travel stocks.

As I noted in a post yesterday, Expedia observed on its post-earnings conference call that the softness the company had been seeing in the U.S. and the U.K. earlier in the year has now extended to “nearly all” geographies and all key product areas, including air, hotels and car rentals. The company indicated that transactions dropped off during the week Lehman went bankrupt, and have not rebounded much since.

This morning, several analysts cut ratings on the stock.

Read the rest of this post

Source: All Things Digital | 31 Oct 2008 | 6:34 pm

Share Your Scary Halloween WebCam Pics With Gadget Lab

I gotta say -- there's no better day than Halloween to play with the iSight cam on my MacBook Pro. Especially with iChat video chatting, where you can keep changing the backgrounds and effects, like I did (in the screenshots above) wearing my gnarly zombie costume.

What are you wearing on this glorious holiday, Gadget Lab readers? We'd love to see. Take a screenshot of yourself video chatting, or just snap a photo of yourself with your webcam and submit it in the Reddit widget below. And then vote!

 

Submit a Photo

Back to top

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 31 Oct 2008 | 6:27 pm

Hoverit Lounger Makes Levitation Easy

This is one chair you don't need to attain nirvana for.

Levitation is easy with The Lounger, which uses repelling magnetic forces in the bed and the base to create a floating sensation.

Designed by British firm Hoverit, it is on display at the ongoing Stuff technology exhibition in London. We have written about the chair before but it still has the 'wow' factor.

The chair is built of clear acrylic, with the idea that you can see all the components in it.

"The sensation that you feel as you lay back and close your eyes is totally different, like floating on a cloud," says the rapturous prose on the company's website.

Breaking free from gravity comes with a stiff price tag. The lounge chair is priced at £5,000 ($8000) and can be ordered from Hoverit's website.

Photo: The Lounger (Hoverit)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 31 Oct 2008 | 6:25 pm

Child's mech walker costume

I love this child's mech walker costume built by one of his parents. Brownlee has more over at BB Gadgets. Beware the clomping of the candy-fueled Chicken Walker

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 6:24 pm

What to expect in upcoming iPhone firmware 2.2

FROM APPLETELL - While iPhone users wait for copy and paste, at least we’ll be treated to some other new features in the not too distant future.
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 31 Oct 2008 | 6:13 pm

Sony’s Assaultin’ Battery [Digital Daily]

Source: All Things Digital | 31 Oct 2008 | 6:00 pm

BlackBerry Bold Now Cheaper By Canadian $100

Barely two months after Research In Motion's latest BlackBerry Bold phone launched on Rogers Canada, the device is already seeing a price cut.

Best Buy online is offering a Canadian $100 discount on the Bold bringing its price down to $200 with a three-year contract from the $300 earlier.

The move will put the Bold in a better position to compete with Apple's iPhone and comes barely two months after the phone was launched on the carrier's network.

Now how long before AT&T cuts its price for the Bold? The handset will be available on Nov. 4 in AT&T stores nationwide.

It's being offered at $300 with a two-year contract, significantly higher than the 3G iPhone at $200, and the newly launched T-Mobile G1 phone at $180 (all with a two-year contract). Engadget has some cool unboxing photos.

Any bets that the early birds for this phone in the U.S. are going to be the losers?

[via Electronista]

Photo: (jambitz.com/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 31 Oct 2008 | 5:58 pm

Obama anti-robocall video

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 31 Oct 2008 | 5:46 pm

Yahoo Does Something Right: Leapfrogs To No. 2 Spot In Web Video

The latest video market share figures for September from Nielsen Online’s VideoCensus have been leaked to Beet.TV, and they show a huge 56 percent jump from Yahoo to 264 million videos streamed during the month. Yahoo’s share still pales next to YouTube’s 5.3 billion streams. But it pumped out 95 million more streams than in August, when Yahoo was trailing Fox (i.e., MySpace), MSN, and Nickelodeon, according to Nielsen Online. And Yahoo attracted 10 million more individual viewers online, to 29.9 million. (Compare to comScore’s Video Metrix numbers from July, which had Yahoo in the fourth spot).

People still watch twenty times more videos on YouTube than on Yahoo. And just the number of streams YouTube added in September alone (592 million) was more than twice as many as Yahoo’s total stream count. YouTube also has a bigger overall audience (81.9 million unique viewers).

But the percentage of videos that Yahoo can put ads up against is much higher than YouTube’s. One estimate that was thrown around at a recent online video panel that I co-moderated earlier this week was that YouTube only monetizes four percent of its videos, which would be 214 million streams. So depending on what percentage of Yahoo’s videos are shown with ads, it might catch up to YouTube on revenues faster than the raw numbers would indicate.

The same logic can be applied to Fox’s 242 million video streams, and the other big video sites behind it. Although Fox, MSN/Windows Live, and Nickelodeon all saw declines during September in Web video market share.

What accounted for the big jump in Yahoo’s video share? Original programming such as Primetime In No Time< /em> (a synopsis of what Web watchers missed on regular TV) is generating 100 million streams, according to Jimmy Pitaro, Yahoo’s VP in charge of sports and entertainment. And the No. 1 video on Yahoo is this fan mashup of the Shakira song “Hips Don’t Lie.” No, they don’t.

Update: Other factors contributing to the strong September showing was better placement of contextual videos to drive follow-on views, as well as interest in videos related to the elections on Yahoo News and the financial collapse on Yahoo Finance.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 31 Oct 2008 | 5:44 pm

Skyfire browser now open to Canadians

A quick recap for those who haven’t been following the mobile browser scene for a while: Skyfire, currently available for Windows Mobile 5/6 and S60, is the only mobile browser supporting full Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, Quicktime, and other processor intensive multimedia formats. It pulls this off where others fail through a bit of proxy voodoo; rather than forcing your handset to do all the legwork, a remote computer crunches as much as it can before sending it your way.

Skyfire had remained in private beta until recently, just opening its doors last month. With the announcement that the beta was now public, a number of folks around the globe were disappointed to realize that it was only open to US residents. When we asked Skyfire for an international ETA, they responded that it would be coming “in weeks, not months.”

While it’s still limited to North America, Skyfire announced this morning that they’ve expanded their turf to include Canada. Starting today, Leslie Nielsen and Celine Dion can enjoy Skyfire in all of its splendor. The rest of Canada can use it too, of course - but come on, share your health care system or something in return.

If you’re north of the border and itchin’ to dig into some Hulu on the go, go grab Skyfire here.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 31 Oct 2008 | 5:41 pm

The Papermaster Chase [Digital Daily]

Apple’s efforts to build its own chip development brain trust out of its acquisition of P.A. Semi have run afoul of IBM. Mark Papermaster, a 26-year IBM veteran and vice president of its Blade Development unit–a division that designs corporate data centers, plans to take a new job with Apple (AAPL) in early November, and Big Blue is doing its damndest to stop him. The company has filed suit against Papermaster, claiming his noncompete agreement with IBM prohibits him from taking a job with Apple.

“Mr. Papermaster’s employment by Apple is a violation of his agreement with IBM against working for a competitor should he leave IBM,” said Fred McNeese, director of IBM’s corporate media relations group. “We will vigorously pursue this case in court.”

And for good reason. As a member of the IBM (IBM) elite Integration and Values Team, Papermaster had broad access to the company’s intellectual property, trade secrets, and more. From the complaint:

The I&VT is charged with addressing the most difficult and important issues facing IBM, such as developing corporate strategy and driving innovation and growth and I&VT team members work with the most sensitive strategic information the Company possesses.

In his capacity as a member of the I&VT, Mr. Papermaster has gained access to confidential information concerning the Company’s strategic plans, marketing plans and long-term business opportunities, including the development of specific IBM products.

… Mr. Papermaster is IBM’s top expert in ‘Power’ architecture and technology, and he is privy to a whole host of trade secrets and confidences belonging to IBM that the company uses to design, develop and manufacture its products.”

Sounds like IBM has a lot to lose in Papermaster. Certainly, it’s worrisome that someone with his processor design expertise and deep knowledge of IBM research and innovation could end up at Apple, a company that’s made quite a name for itself recognizing the potential of innovations others have left fallow.

Source: All Things Digital | 31 Oct 2008 | 5:11 pm

Guinness Record for wheelchair backflip

Aaron Fotheringham, 16, earned a Guinness World Record last weekend as the first person to land a backflip in a wheelchair. (Click the image to see the full photo by Stephen R. Sylvanie/Special to the Home News.) From the Las Vegas Sun:

To achieve the trick, Fotheringham, rolled down a skatepark ramp to generate enough speed. He then went up another ramp and landed his flip on flat ground.

He first completed the trick in 2006, and has dozens of videos of his backflips, but had yet to make it official...

Aaron Fotheringham, who suffers from spina bifida and has been in a wheelchair since he was 13, came up short in his quest to set a record for most consecutive backflips in 45 seconds. His unofficial record is six back flips in a row, however, he could not get consecutive flips Oct. 25.

"I'm a little bit disappointed I didn't get the consecutive flips, but I guess I'm taking it for granted that I got in the book," Fotheringham said.

Wheelchair athlete's back flip lands him in record book (Thanks, Carlo Longino!)

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 4:47 pm

Virtual evil

What does it mean to be truly evil? Cognitive scientist Selmer Bringsjord is developing a virtual human that embodies their evolving definition of "evil." In development for several years, the character, named "E," is designed to interact with humans in a way that sounds similar to a chatbot, albeit a really demented chatbot. Bringsjord is even considering the ethics and "danger" of making an evil software program. (Brett Leonard, your meme is ready.) From Scientific American:

To be truly evil, someone must have sought to do harm by planning to commit some morally wrong action with no prompting from others (whether this person successfully executes his or her plan is beside the point). The evil person must have tried to carry out this plan with the hope of "causing considerable harm to others," Bringsjord says. Finally, "and most importantly," he adds, if this evil person were willing to analyze his or her reasons for wanting to commit this morally wrong action, these reasons would either prove to be incoherent, or they would reveal that the evil person knew he or she was doing something wrong and regarded the harm caused as a good thing...

Following the path of a true logician, Bringsjord's interest in the portrayal of virtuousness and evil in literature led to his interest in software that helps writers develop ideas and create stories; this, in turn, spurred him to develop his own software for simulating human behavior, both good and odious, says Barry Smith, a distinguished professor of bioinformatics and ontology at the State University of New York at Buffalo who is familiar with Bringsjord's work. "He's known as someone on the fringe of philosophy and computer science."

Bringsjord and Smith both have an interest in finding ways to better understand human behavior, and their work has attracted the attention of the intelligence community, which is seeking ways to successfully analyze the information they gather on potential terrorists. "To solve problems in intelligence analysis, you need more accurate representations of people," Smith says. "Selmer is trying to build really good representations of human beings in all of their subtlety."

Are You Evil? Profiling That Which Is Truly Wicked

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 4:18 pm

Would You Pay $162 a Year for All the Music You Can Eat? [MediaMemo]

That’s the offer, sort of, being made by something called Datz Music Lounge.

The details, from MusicWeek (via Coolfer): You give the company 100 British pounds, and for the next year you can download all the music you want. And because you’re downloading the files in the unencrypted MP3 format, they are yours to keep, and yours to do whatever you want with: Play them on any Apple (AAPL) iPod or iPhone, make copies, burn them to CDs, etc.

Are there catches? Of course: The offer is only available to U.K. residents, who have to use a special USB dongle to make the Datz software work, and it only works on PCs running Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows, for now. Most crucially, the company only has music from two of the big four music labels–EMI and Warner Music Group (WMG)–and it doesn’t even have all of those companies’ new releases, but a “wide selection of new music released in 2009.”

But play along, for just a minute. Say Datz does end up striking deals with Sony (SNE) and Universal Music Group (and the other big indies), and does end up getting most of the majors’ catalogs. And say Datz is still able to keep the price point about the same: Something in the $15 a month range for unlimited music to own. Could that work, from both a consumer and industry perspective?

Yes. It could.

That’s around the same price point as music subscription services offered by RealNetworks’ (RNWK) Rhapsody and Napster’s (NAPS)/Best Buy’s (BBY) Napster.com. The big difference: Those services only give you access to music, not ownership. And while I’m not hung up on owning music as long as I can get what I want when I want, I’m in the minority on this one.

But if you could hang on to your music–and not have to worry about what format you’re using, since MP3s will work on all formats–then that seems like a compelling offer. The thought of shelling out $162 in advance will likely give people pause, but presumably Datz could figure out a way to extract the payments, à la the mobile carriers, over a one-year period.

Meanwhile, $162 a year is much, much more than most people were ever spending on CDs, even during the format’s boom years. And those, obviously, are long gone. Today the industry would be pleased if the average consumer spent $20 a year on music, no matter what format it’s in.

And yes, we know what many of you are going to say: Why pay for music at all when I can steal whatever I want? Or the faux-sophisticated alternate version: Music should be free! Because it can be replicated for no marginal cost!

Well, can’t argue with that–unless you’re in favor of compensating people who create intellectual property for their work. And I’m one of those old-fashioned types who still thinks that’s a good idea. Hope Datz can pull this off.

Source: All Things Digital | 31 Oct 2008 | 4:16 pm

Want to cool your PC with mineral oil? DIY kit makes it easier.

If you don't like the idea of spending an outrageous $5,000 on a ready-made PC filled with cooling goo, Puget Systems has a DIY kit priced just $315.

[We've] been running a mineral oil computer for over a year with no ill effects. In a more recent project, it has allowed us to run an extremely high end system at under 50C with virtually no noise. It has also allowed an overclock of a QX9770 from a stock frequency of 3.2GHz, to an overclocked frequency of 4.6GHz!

Shipping with the aquarium tank and cover, a motherboard tray, power lights and cabling, hard drive mounting brackets and optional lighting kits, Puget's deal lacks only one thing: the giant bucket of mineral oil you'll need to make the magic happen.

The recommended method for checking for excessive heat levels is as follows: when concerned, lower a wire basket of sliced potatoes into the enclosure. If they quickly become delicious, the oil has overheated and you should stop playing video games.

Aquarium Kit [Puget Systems]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 31 Oct 2008 | 4:15 pm

Mercenaries 2 DLC lets you roll with Barack and Palin

As the mellifluous wordsmiths over at Gearfuse point out, there is little reason to buy Mercenaries 2, which they label "the most mediocre game, ever." That's just about right. Still, Pandemic's latest DLC pack does at least have one ebullient grab at fun relevancy: it allows you to play as either Barack Obama or Sarah Palin, stealing tanks, slitting throats and blow up helicopters. Not worth buying the game for, but I imagine we'll see some fun YouTube videos out of it.

[via Gearfuse]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 31 Oct 2008 | 4:12 pm

Pioneer claims new player is lightest portable XM radio

The XMp3 is an mp3 player and an XM radio receiver—and the lightest such device in existence, according to Pioneer.

It has "100 hours" of storage and microSD card slot for more; an auto-record feature that remembers to grab your favorite shows; and a buffer of the last 30 minutes from multiple channels. This 3oz player is $280 and available immediately.

Product Page [XM]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 31 Oct 2008 | 4:06 pm

Google Tweaks AdWords To Reward “Quality” (And Juice Revenues)

There is nothing like a downturn to force a company focus on the bottom line, even a company like Google whose bottom line is still growing at a healthy pace. Continuing its recent efforts to juice advertising revenues wherever it can, Google is changing the way ads are placed on its search results pages.

One of the two biggest determinants of where an ad ranks compared to other ads on the same results page is an ad’s “quality score” (the other is the amount an advertiser bids for a particular keyword). Google is making two tweaks to how the quality score is calculated that could have a major impact on which ads appear at the top of the page.

Lots of factors go into Google’s algorithm that determines the quality score for any given ad, but how many people actually click on the ad is one of the major ones. Ads that appear first, though, get a boost in click-through rates simply by being listed above all the other ads. Google is now taking into account the boost in click-through rates an ad gets by dint of its position, and backing that out from the quality score. That should result in a boost to overall quality scores.

The second change will be more visible. We’ll be seeing a lot more ads above search results in addition to the side because Google also just made it easier for ads to occupy those slots. In the past, only ads with that were both ranked the highest and met a minimum quality score would be placed above the regular search results. Here’s how Google explains this change in its AdWords blog:

To appear above the search results, ads must meet a certain quality threshold. In the past, if the ad with the highest Ad Rank did not meet the quality threshold, we may not have shown any ads above the search results. With this update, we’ll allow an ad that meets the quality threshold to appear above the search results even if it has to jump over other ads to do so. For instance, suppose the ad in position 1 on the right side of the page doesn’t have a high enough Quality Score to appear above the search results, but the ad in position 2 does. It’s now possible for the number 2 ad to jump over the number 1 ad and appear above the search results. This change ensures that quality plays an even more important role in determining the ads that show in those prominent positions.

The change also ensures that there is a larger pool of ads that can be placed up top. Those ads occupy the most valuable real estate on the page. Putting more ads there should result in more clicks, and thus more revenues for Google. And remember, because of change No. 1, there should be more ads with high enough quality scores to make it to that coveted spot.

In the past, Google has been conservative about which ads it would place above search results because it does not want to dilute the overall search experience. By redefining what makes a quality ad, it can put more ads up there and still feel good about itself.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:59 pm

Report: Asus gets customer thrown in jail after she threatens to tell press about its dismal tech support

Asus and a customer are locked in a legal battle in China, according to reports, after it had her imprisoned for ten months when she threatened to tell the press about its use of substandard engineering samples to repair broken gear.

Huang Jin, accused by Asus of extortion but released due to insufficient evidence, is now launching a legal counter-attack, suing it for defamation, giving false reports to police, and for selling defective gear in the first place. She's also after the state for compensation for jailing her at the computer company's request.

Here's Danwei, translating a story from the Beijing Times:

Huang's ordeal with ASUS started when she was still a university student on February 9, 2006. She bought a V6800V model ASUS laptop from a Beijing retailer. Her computer had many problems including frequent blue screen freeze-ups.

Despite Huang sending back the computer several times for repairs by the ASUS, some of the problems remained. The last time ASUS repaired Zhou's computer, they replaced the CPU, but the new CPU overheated. Examination showed that the new CPU was an Intel "engineering sample" of a kind not permitted to be sold in the market.

Huang and her lawyer, Zhou Chengyu, demanded that ASUS to pay a compensation of five million US dollars, threatening to break the news to the media and take ASUS to court.

Asus, according to the report, then contacted authorities and got her thrown in the clink.

Huang has a website up to gather support for her case against Asus, but it's in Chinese. Here's a barely-readable machtrans.

ASUS charges customer with extortion, customer countersues [Danwei] Thanks, Chris!

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:59 pm

Visions of Terror horror spoof

Underground film director Rodney Ascher, whose work we've featured on BB and BBtv many times before, just completed a new horror spoof called Visions of Terror. A collaboration with Josh Fadem and also starring Zoe Jarman, Visions of Terror is a real laff-riot that takes the piss out of B-movie horror buffs, which Ascher is himself. Visions of Terror

Previously on BB:
• Jack Chick, animated: "Somebody Goofed," by Syd and Rodney
• Rodney Ascher's short film about a freefalling parachutist
• Babylon 6 Jamaican vacation promo

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:57 pm

Video: Left 4 Dead Trailer

This is pretty much just a free advertisement for Left 4 Dead, the upcoming zombie apocalypse shooter from local favorite Valve Software, but all of us at BBG sort of want to have their screaming, pulsating babies gnash their way out of our distended bellies.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:51 pm

Neuroprosthetic enables monkey to activate paralyzed muscles

Monkeys outfitted with neural implants have learned to control temporarily paralyzed muscles in their arms. So instead of controlling a robot arm with its mind, the monkey controls its own muscles that have become "disconnected" from its brain. The research, conducted by the University of Washington and the Washington National Primate Research Center, is a step forward in the development of technology that routes around a damaged spine, enabling a patient to once again manipulate paralyzed body parts. From IEEE Spectrum:

In exchange for a reward of applesauce, the monkeys had been conditioned to create just the right amount of torque in their wrists to move a cursor on a display so that it hit a target. To conduct the experiments, the researchers used anesthesia to block signals in a nerve just below the shoulder of a monkey’s arm, temporarily paralyzing the rest of the limb. The brain cells that control wrist movement were still firing in response to the monkey’s desire to hit the target and get the payoff, but with the neural connection shut down, the wrist remained limp. The scientists implanted electrodes into the monkey’s motor cortex and fed the electrical signals they received from the monkey’s brain into a computer. The computer then translated the signals into a stimulating current that was fed to electrodes implanted below the nerve block in the monkey’s wrist. The monkeys were able to learn to manipulate their own brains to get their wrists moving.

New Brain-Machine Interface Reactivates Monkey's Paralyzed Muscles

Source: Boing Boing | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:44 pm

Beware the clomping of the candy-fueled Chicken Walker

This kid's costume is undeniably awesome, but I'm not quite sure it's what he wanted. Quoth his Dad:

So my middle son asked to be a robot for Halloween. We had a great time building this but I believe he may be a bit too tired to eat candy.

Then again perhaps not.

This, my friend, is not a "robot", it is a mech walker. At my school, if you didn't know the difference between a robot and a mech, all you'd earn is the communal snort of nasal contempt — a derisive "LOL" soaked in the phlegm of a thousand nerds — and a long walk through the slide rule gauntlet.

Otherwise, an excellent costume, Young Master Chicken Walker. I'm only curious about what the kid inside is saying to himself. Is it griping, or some sort of onomatopoeic robot noise?

Robot Costume [2wicky via Gizmodo]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:39 pm

Iceman Has No Living Relatives

Oetzi, the 5,300 year-old frozen mummy, left no living genetic legacy.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:37 pm

"Even Grandpa's Kill -9 couldn't stop him."

Behold, the dreaded zombie process, the loneliest kid at the process table.

HALLOWEEN t-shirt [Latorra.org]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:34 pm

Sprint to Rejuvenate Network No One Will Buy [Digital Daily]

Looks like Sprint is going to keep Nextel after all. Seems it views Nextel’s iDen walkie-talkie network as a “key differentiator” against rivals and plans to aggressively rejuvenate it. Never mind that Nextel might fetch as much as $5 billion that could be used in the company’s market share battle with Verizon Wireless (VZ) and AT&T (T). Never mind that it has been hemorrhaging customers even faster than Sprint (S), adding to the company’s financial woes. Never mind that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse earlier this month said an iDEN sale was a possibility, telling reporters that “everything is on the table.”

Apparently, everything but Nextel is on the table.

Or, rather, Nextel is still on the table, but no one’s interested in buying it at the $5 billion+ price Sprint’s asking. Said Chris King, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, “I’m not sure they were going to see that kind of valuation, especially in this type of capital markets environment.”

Source: All Things Digital | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:24 pm

Stay warm with Ardica jacket—and power your gadgets, too

Ardica makes a vest that conceals a large, flat battery. It provides not only power to your gear, but heat to your body.

The makers claim it holds "11 cell phone charges, 20 iPod charges and and enough juice to run a dead device or power a GPS, PDA or any other personal electronic device" so long as it requires no more than 10 watts of power. Alternatively, you can have 9 hours of low heat or 3 hours of hot.

Product Page [Ardica]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 31 Oct 2008 | 3:23 pm

Oldest Hebrew Writing Possibly Found

Ancient inscriptions on a 3,000-year-old pottery shard could make history.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 31 Oct 2008 | 2:37 pm

Spiders, Scorpions Among World's Oldest Creatures

Many creepy crawlies have been on Earth much longer than previously believed.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 31 Oct 2008 | 2:31 pm

MTV Bleeps out File-Sharing Sites?

I can't figure this out. This video, from MTV's video site, has been bleeped by MTV in an effort to hide file sharing system names in Weird Al Yankovic "Don't Download This Song." The original lyrics:

Once in a while maybe you will feel the urge To break international copyright law By downloading MP3s from file-sharing sites Like Morpheus or Grokster or Limewire or KaZaA

Strangley, all of those file-sharing sites are bleeped out. Is it a conspiracy?

Source: TechCrunch | 31 Oct 2008 | 2:13 pm

Rare, Prehistoric-Age Reptile Found in N.Z.

A tuatara has been spotted on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in 200 years.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 31 Oct 2008 | 1:54 pm

Blood-Sucking Vampire Bats Sing Duets

White-winged vampire bats "harmonize" with separated roost mates.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 31 Oct 2008 | 1:43 pm

It's Official: People Are Warming the Poles

Humans are conclusively to blame for polar warming, say scientists.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 31 Oct 2008 | 1:27 pm