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The Fourth YouTuberMost venture capitalists will tell you that a good idea isn’t worth much - the value is in execution, which is very hard. But that doesn’t stop people from coming forward to take credit when someone hits a home run. We saw it with Google and countless others. Someone gets rich, and someone else says they stole the idea. This time it’s YouTube. Herbert Elwood Gilliland III emails us to say that YouTube’s name and idea were his, and that he told Chad Hurley about it years ago. After a different conversation he says he had with Sergey Brin in 2007, more of his ideas appeared in YouTube:
I haven’t emailed YouTube founders Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim to get their side of the story, but I’m guessing they aren’t going to credit Gilliland with as much as a comment on this, let alone sending him a check. Gilliland has says his specialties are “Security, networking, interface, process consulting, medical devices (and requirements), graphic design, advertising, web design, product development” on his LinkedIn profile, and he types 106 words per minute. Back in 2002 he was looking for funding for a life perpetuating device - “Please help me save this information by designing and marketing brain perpetuation devices for post-mordem cultivation of valuable neurologically stored information.” What does he want exactly? $1 million dollars. To become a doctor. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 9 Nov 2008 | 11:20 am GetClicky GetsMad
And now they want more. They’ve got a new user-translation tool to make their site available to non-English speakers, modeled on the the Facebook approach. The first I heard of it was a couple of days ago when the founder emailed us about it. But instead of just letting us know about the feature, he unleashed a barrage of criticism about our Facebook-love (Facebook would disagree), accused us of bias and says we’ll forever lose his respect if we don’t write about them:
Ok Sean. I won’t mention the fact that a me-too feature isn’t that interesting. Or that Facebook’s initial launch of the translation tool propelled them way past MySpace to 160 million monthly unique visitors around the world. Or that polite emails tend to lead towards better results than this. No, insulting us was definitely the right approach. Here’s your post. Sorry I forgot to link. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 9 Nov 2008 | 11:14 am The Fourth YouTuberMost venture capitalists will tell you that a good idea isn't worth much - the value is in execution, which is very hard. But that doesn't stop people from coming forward to take credit when someone hits...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 9:55 am Tiffany Diamond Phones sell out in 3 dayshref="http://news.3yen.com/2008-11-08/what-depression-japan-softbanks-diamond-encrusted-phone-sold-out/">, but diamond-encrusted bling phones were sold out in only three days to Japanese willing to...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 9:13 am Celebrities Fighting Back Against Fake Twitter ProfilesTwitter, while fun and useful, has become a breeding ground for hacks who dream of becoming the next Fake Steve Jobs. Lance Armstrong, Britney Spears, and Al Gore have all recently joined the microblogging...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 9:08 am Irish GSM Providers Asked to Track Users' Web UseWith the disclaimer "I'm both Irish and work for the EU Commission," reader VShael writes "The head of the Irish police force has requested that Irish cell phone providers (Vodaphone, 02, Meteor, 3) retain detailed information on the web pages that people view over their handheld devices. This information would be held over for 'possible future criminal investigations', but would be gathered without a warrant, probable cause, or without the citizen being suspected of a crime. This request goes way beyond the European Union's data retention directive, which never included retention of web-based email. Representatives of Vodafone, O2 and 3 discussed the letter at a meeting with Mr Davis (6th November 2008) and questioned the legal basis under which they could retain this data. It is their understanding that the content of calls or e-mails, or details on webpages browsed, are excluded from the EU directive. As such, any retention or disclosure of that information would be a violation of existing EU data protection legislation."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 9 Nov 2008 | 9:01 am Water me alerts from your plants via Twitter to your cell phoneSpotted on Red Ferret, the Botanicalls Kit that offers water me alerts from your plants via online Twitter status updates to your mobile phone.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 8:59 am About That MySpace Music Device
Some interesting things were said, including remarks by Bronfman that Warner will only sign new artists if they agree to give the label a cut of all possible revenue streams. But the biggest story about the talk, by far, was this: MySpace may be creating a music device. At least that’s what dozens of blogs and mainstream news outlets reporte. A sample:
The source for the stories: DeWolfe, when asked “Do you think, or as you plot…the future of MySpace…do you think there is a place where MySpace might create a device?” said only “Uh, it’s possible, right now we’re just focusing on the service itself.” The video is below, and DeWolfe’s tone and body language suggest he was simply being polite. I contacted MySpace, wondering if big press was tipped off to read more into the statement than appears reasonable. They declined to comment. Judge for yourself. In my opinion, there’s nothing there. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 9 Nov 2008 | 8:42 am About That MySpace Music DeviceLast Thursday John Battelle sat down with MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman to discuss the future of music. Some interesting things were said, including remarks by Bronfman...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 8:42 am USS Intrepid reopens to fanfare - Newsday
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 9 Nov 2008 | 8:06 am A fundamental rebootI’m at the final plenary session at the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Councils meeting in Dubai. In the last two WEF events I’ve attended, I’ve heard rumblings that were predictive...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 7:15 am Al Gore’s ‘Unified Smart Grid’ vision for repowering the USA ... - ZDNet Blogs
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 9 Nov 2008 | 6:41 am DIY RFID Beer Safe Protects Your PBRBy Evan Ackerman Curious about RFID? Overprotective of your beer? Have 30 minutes of free time? The latest episode of Systm (starring David Calkins, who knows a thing or five about robots) shows you how...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 5:58 am OpenSolaris 2008.11 – Year of the Laptop?Ahmed Kamal writes "Is Linux getting too old for you? Are you interested to see what other systems such as OpenSolaris have to offer? OpenSolaris has some great features, such as ZFS and dtrace, which make it a great server OS — but how do you think it will fare on a laptop? Let's take an initial look at the most recent OpenSolaris 2008.11 pre-release on recentish laptop hardware."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 9 Nov 2008 | 5:58 am 32 Gun Lovin Trends - From Sarah Palin, Katt Williams & Madonna to Condom, Liquor & Soap Guns (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) No wonder comedian Katt Williams was recently arrested on weapons charges in midtown Manhattan. Our culture is gun-obsessed. From Sarah Palin and her well-documented love for hunting...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 4:24 am 35 Unorthodox Ways to Embrace Ugly Design (CLUSTER)(TrendHunter.com) Impeccably fabricated tables are turning and the design world is encouraging ugliness. An article recently written by Core 77s Tad Toulis, a designer himself, suggests that we may...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 3:20 am Three ways iPod Touch gets it wrongFROM APPLETELL - I recently got an iPod touch (8 GB), and it’s the most amazing gadget I’ve ever owned. But there are a few areas where it could be improved, as well as a few that are just plain dumb.
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Nov 2008 | 3:17 am China Hijacks Popular BitTorrent Sitesfrogger writes "China is not new to censoring the Internet, but up until now, BitTorrent sites have never been blocked. Recently, however, several reports came in from China indicating that popular BitTorrent sites such as Mininova, isoHunt and The Pirate Bay had been hijacked. The sites became inaccessible, instead redirecting to the leading Chinese search engine Baidu."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 9 Nov 2008 | 3:01 am Airplane-Inspired Home Decor - The 'Flight Kitchen' (GALLERY)(TrendHunter.com) The Flight Kitchen concept design is based on the aerodynamic shape of an airplane wing. Created by Franco Pelosi Design Lab, the aerofoil shape and ultra-modern lime green and black...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 3:00 am Apple Exec Hired From IBM Ordered to Stop Work - PC Magazine
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 9 Nov 2008 | 2:49 am Mathematical Superstars From Missouri, Indiana and Texas Honored for Research in Nation's Premier High School Science CompetitionSiemens Competition Regional Winners Announced at Notre Dame? Will Compete for $100,000 at National Finals Mathematics Sweeps the Competition as Ashok Cutkosky, of...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 2:30 am Obama to preside over White House 2.0 (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 9 Nov 2008 | 2:25 am Whiz Kids From New Jersey and Massachusetts Honored for Computer Science and Biology Research in Nation's Premier High School Science CompetitionSiemens Competition Regional Winners Honored at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Will Compete for $100,000 at National Finals in New YorkSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 9 Nov 2008 | 2:05 am Ford on selling 65MPG Euro-diesel car in U.S.: Nah, Americans won't buy it Will someone knock some heads together at Ford.
"But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S.," Ford America President Mark Fields. ... "We just don't think North and South America would buy that many diesel cars." Meanwhile, Japanese and European automakers ready new high-MPG diesels for the U.S. It's as if Ford's corporate strategy is to fail as spectacularly as it can. Bailout! Source [Business Week] Source: Gizmodo | 9 Nov 2008 | 1:45 am iPhone twice as reliable as Blackberries?FROM APPLETELL - A new study from SquareTrade, a company that offers additional warranties for devices, indicates that Apple’s iPhone is twice as reliable as RIM’s Blackberry line.
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 9 Nov 2008 | 1:19 am Ballmer: No on WebKit, yes on app store
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 9 Nov 2008 | 12:34 am TeleNav launches their own PND calls it the ShotgunIt’s just another GPS, right? Is that what you’re thinking? While it is just a GPS the Shotgun from TeleNav brings a bit more than your standard Garmin. It’s somewhat comparable to the Dash as well, but we all know what happened to them. The Shotgun has a 4.3-inch LCD and connects wirelessly over a GSM network for real-time traffic updates and OTA upgrades:
You can search the Net from wherever you are to find all sorts of POIs like cheap gas, Wi-Fi hotspots and restaurants. Check out the video after the jump. If you’re like me then you’ll want to pre-plan your trip and you can do so by sending routes from your desktop directly to your Shotgun with plug-ins for Firefox and IE. The Shotgun actively searches every five minutes for traffic and automatically reroutes if you choose to do so with the touch of one button. You can also dig a bit deeper into traffic problems or incidents to see how slow it’s moving. It’s small enough at 4.9L x 3.1W x 0.75H inches to throw in your coat pocket or purse/bag if you’re feeling more pedestrian. The device itself retails for $300 with three months of free TeleNav Connected Service. A 2-year plan will set you back $239 ($9.96/month) or a 1-year plan for $129 ($10.75/month). 
Source: CrunchGear | 9 Nov 2008 | 12:27 am Amazon's Cloud Data Center to Follow Google to Oregon1sockchuck writes "All your online data doesn't really live in a big, fluffy cloud. It resides in servers and data centers. That's why Amazon.com is quietly building a large data center complex in Oregon along the Columbia River, not far from Google's secret data lair in The Dalles. Amazon Web Services started as a way to monetize excess data center capacity for its retail operation, but has grown to the point where it requires dedicated infrastructure. Amazon recently said that its S3 cloud storage service is hosting 29 billion objects."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 9 Nov 2008 | 12:15 am Cyber attacks on McCain and Obama teams 'came from China' - Financial Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 9 Nov 2008 | 12:08 am The New President's Plans for Food Policy? (PHOTO: "Do you think he's alive???" shot by Kevin Law.) Over at Ethicurean, there's an extensive post exploring what the newly elected American president might do differently about food, farms, and related systems of energy and technology in the United States: According to Speech Wars, between April and October, John McCain uttered the word “agriculture” only twice, and “nutrition” just once. Barack Obama did slightly better, referring to “agriculture” twelve times and “nutrition” four times. He gave farms a passing mention in his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. But let’s face it: for the most part, food was a quiet issue, sacrificed to our discussions about race and religion, gender and sexism, oil and bailouts.A detailed list of what we know about Obama's likely changes in food policy follows, read the whole post here: What does an Obama win mean for the U.S. food supply? (Ethicurean) Source: Boing Boing | 8 Nov 2008 | 11:40 pm Blue 120GB Zune found, not yet announced
The Zune team announced 46 new designs on Thursday and one of Zunerama’s forum members was bored enough to sift through the press site and stumbled across an unannounced 120GB blue Zune. If you recall, Microsoft only announced a blue 8GB earlier in the year, so I wonder what else they have in store. Source: Gizmodo | 8 Nov 2008 | 11:30 pm Having trouble getting your Golden Lancer?
Here’s how to get your Golden Lancer and Maps for Gears of War 2 if you’ve been having trouble. 1. Launch the Xbox Dashboard If you’re already on NXE: 1. Launch the Xbox 360 Dashboard I’ve heard reports of people having to try re-downloading it a couple of times, so if you still get an error, please wait a few minutes and try again. Also, try deleting the original download, and THEN re-downloading it. As long as you entered the code and initiated the original download, deleting this won’t cause any re-download issues. Thanks for your patience, guys. Source: CrunchGear | 8 Nov 2008 | 11:25 pm Newspaper headlines of Obama election win, Nov. 5 2008 Obama Grabs Headlines - November 5, 2008 Source: Boing Boing | 8 Nov 2008 | 11:21 pm Obama, technology and the future - Part TwoSection: Communications, Computers, Networking, Originals, Features
The first thing that Obama has promised to do is to create a more transparent government, a policy that has probably been prompted by the manner in which the Bush administration has been very secretive. He will attempt to do this by “creating a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for America’s citizens” through the use of technology. Presumably, this will be done by extensive use of the Internet, as well as other technology such as mobile phones, as shown in the selection of Joe Biden as his second man. Secondly, he will attempt to bring government into the 21st century by using technology to reform the way in which the government works. One of the most obvious example of this is the appointment of the US’s first CTO, or Chief Technology Officer. The CTO (who has yet to be named) will be in charge of ensuring that the government stays in line with 21st Century technology as well as working with chief technology and chief information officers. Another of the CTO’s priorities will be to increase broadband penetration, something Obama has criticized the Bush administration for. That last point is part of the final major point in which he will work to deploy a revised infrastructure will will keep the US in the modern age. In the same way every American has phone connections, Obama hopes to instigate a program to install broadband connections to all Americans regardless of economic or social status. In all these policies are (so far) incredibly beneficial to Americans, will help to restart the economy, and boost the technology orientated sector. Look out for part three for more policies and an insight into the future.
Source [barackobama.com]
Full Story » | Written by Christian Milsom for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Nov 2008 | 11:05 pm Microsoft Working On Its Own App StoreCWmike writes "Microsoft is working on a software distribution scheme along the lines of Apple's iPhone App Store, CEO Steve Ballmer said yesterday at a developer's conference in Sydney, Australia. 'There's not much money being made, but the general concept of giving developers a way not only to get their code distributed, but to really get visibility for the code, is a good idea,' Ballmer said. Ballmer hinted that something similar would be coming soon from Microsoft. While he said Micrsoft was not ready to detail the works in progress, he said '... fear not, we're hard at work, and you'll see some of the benefits [of that] with some of the concepts, particularly Facebook's.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 8 Nov 2008 | 10:45 pm Hotel Bargains A Surprise For Many CES AttendeesProcrastinators looking to book a hotel room for this year’s Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show (CES) may be in for a pleasant surprise.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Nov 2008 | 10:45 pm Apple Rejects Radio App Update Due to "Excessive" Data Transfer - Mac Rumors
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Nov 2008 | 10:36 pm Comcast’s march to 100% digital will raise rates and alienate millions
When Comcast converts an analog channel to digital, it frees up enough bandwidth for three HD stations - that’s a lot. That means 150 HD stations can take the place of 50 analog channels and that is exactly why Comcast is making the switch. Satellite and fiber services tout, on average, over 50 HD stations where Comcast has around a dozen. Sure, Comcast can claim that it has more HD content than satellite but that’s only if you include the hundreds of D-run movies and shows available via ON-Demand. The conversion to digital allows the provider to easily serve up more HD stations and also, charge a lot more in fees. The plan is to only send local stations on the NTSC signal and put the rest of the extended basic channels on a digital QAM signal. QAM tuners are standard in TVs now, but if a TV was purchased over a year or two ago, it likely will not have the right stuff to tune-in basic cable after the switch. You will need to rent a box from Comcast for around $4 a month to receive the full basic cable package that you had been watching box-free for years and each TV will need one of these devices.
Take my house for example: the four TVs above are in my bedroom, kitchen, office, and garage. All of these SDTVs will need one of the $4 boxes to watch the 50 out of the 74 stations available on Comcast’s extended basic cable. Sure, I have two HDTVs and those have boxes, but if I am going to have to put a tuner on these other TVs, Comcast looses all of its appeal as a one-cable solution for the everyday TV and I might as well switch to other providers that also require boxes but serve up more HD right now. I know that I am not alone in this situation either. I dare say that the vast majority of Americans have non-HDTVs that they watch basic cable on box-free. When I called Comcast minutes ago, the lady said, get this, I have excessive amount of TVs but yes, each TV will need a box if I want to watch FX, Sci-Fi, Fox News, or The History Cable - basically, anything but local stations - which will result in me spending $16 more a month and $192 more a year. Your best course of action as a Comcast subscriber is to contact Comcast at 1-800-COMCAST and inquirer when your market will be switched over. Large markets are being converted first with Detroit scheduled by the end of the year. Don’t let them feed you the line that Comcast has to do this because after February 17, 2009 broadcast stations will be transmitting their signal in digital only. That’s what my Comcast rep told me, but my response was why then are the only channels available on non-digital cable going to be my local stations and channels such as FX and The History Channel going to cost more? Plus, Comcast is already providing my local stations in high-definition. No response. And by the way, this switch has nothing to do with the digital transition on Feburary 17, 2009 and most Comcast markets will not be switched over until after the February 17, 2009 broadcast transition. I might enjoy the extra HD stations after conversation but I am sure DirecTV or Verizon will appreciate the new subscriber one of them will gain. Source: CrunchGear | 8 Nov 2008 | 10:01 pm Weekend Update, 11/8/08 [Digital Daily]
Election 2008 Yahoo Econalypse Source: Gizmodo | 8 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm NYCL Responds to RIAA AccusationsNewYorkCountryLawyer writes "You may recall that when the RIAA decided to run away with its tail between its legs in the long running Brooklyn case against a home health aide who has never used a computer, UMG v. Lindor, it decided to take some parting shots at the defendant and NewYorkCountryLawyer, asking for 'discovery sanctions,' and blaming them for its inability to prove its case. Today NYCL gave them his response, accusing the RIAA lawyers of persistent misstatements of fact (PDF) throughout their motion papers, and of flouting the rules and misstating the law (PDF). Although the RIAA's motion papers took a number of shots at NYCL's copyright law blog, 'Recording Industry vs. The People,' NYCL confined his response on that subject to a single footnote."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Nov 2008 | 9:42 pm Baby pygmy hippoKirsten Anderson says that this baby pygmy hippopotamus is "ridiculously cute." I agree. Named Monifa, it lives at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. (via Cute Overload) Source: Gizmodo | 8 Nov 2008 | 9:15 pm RevisionG4? Taking a look at the Revision3 shake upSection: Video, Content, Originals, Web, Web 2.0, Online Music/Video, Features
If you’re a fan of online video, you’ve probably heard of Revision3. Plenty of people are calling the company “RevisionG4” in light of the recent changes. PrimerIf you’re unfamiliar with Revision3 here’s a quick primer: The company started as a vehicle to produce podcasts like thebroken, systm, and Diggnation. Many new shows followed and lots of familiar faces were added to the mix. Those of us who missed TechTV were comforted with the arrivial of Revision3 along with TWiT.
The shake upRecently, there have been big changes over at Revision3. Cancellations of shows, distribution deals dropped and personnel changes. Shows canceled
The following Revision3 shows are no longer in production:
Officially, there really is no reason Pixel Perfect was canceled. The other two shows apparently “never really found their audience.” The shows have not been retired to the Revision3 Show Archive just yet, but that is a matter of time. Other changesMore changes occurred recently. Revision3 had been distributing non-Revision3 shows such as Wine Library and Epic Fu. Revision3 will no longer distribute these shows. These programs had a life before Revision3 and will probably continue on their own. Some new faces are gone and some familiar faces from TechTV no longer have the same association with Revision3. Heather Frank, Sarah Lane, Glenn Mcelhose, Martin Sargent, and Jay Speiden were all let go from their jobs. Sargent and Mcelhose are supposed to have some kind of new roles with Revision3.
BacklashThe Revision 3 blog post announcing the changes has over 200 comments, most of them quite unhappy with the lineup change. Plenty of folks have some choice words for CEO Jim Louderback echoing statements from a particular “Internet Superstar” promo. Revision3 must be quite aware of its intensely loyal fanbase. They’ve never shied away from open discussions on their forums or the comment section of their blog. They knew there would be a backlash. Why would they take such a step if they were going to be met with such resistance? It’s really quite simple.
RevisionG4?The fact is Revision3 is a business. The shows that were cut must not have been producing sufficient returns to continue production. It’s as simple as that. Pushing a show that just does not have an audience after quite a test period just doesn’t make sense. Shows take time to produce. From coming up with show ideas, to shooting, to editing, to posting the shows online with their RSS feeds – all of these things take a tremendous amount of time and energy. Sometimes hard decisions have to be made. Revision3 has investors that expect a return. Venture capitalists are not in the business of just giving away money with no expectation.
OpportunityRevision3 hasn’t turned into RevisionG4. G4 took TechTV and made it FUBAR. G4 didn’t just fire talent, they changed the entire format of the network. Revision3 is still producing plenty of tech programming. When TechTV finally dropped, TWiT and Revision3 were the new places to find the shows you wanted. Right now, anybody can fill the void left by the departure of PixelPerfect, Pop Siren, and Internet Superstar. It’s easy to grab some screen capture software, a camcorder, and some editing software to put together new shows if you want to. Are you going to fill the void? Do you think Revision3 sold out? Sound off in the comments. Read [Revision3 Blog] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gizmodo | 8 Nov 2008 | 8:30 pm Good Cross-Platform Speech-Recognition Programs?CryoStasis writes "I am a graduate student getting my degree in biomedical sciences. Because my work often requires me to maintain a local sterile environment (under a biological hood) I find that I am unable to physically touch my computer, which sits beside me, in order to open my notes, protocols, etc. while I'm working. As a result, I have begun to search for a voice-recognition program that will allow me to tell the computer what files/programs to launch. I know that the general field of voice recognition has come a long way, but I find that the built-in speech recognition systems in both OS X and Vista are clunky and difficult to use. Are there any good, cross-platform speech-recognition programs available that might fit the bill?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Gizmodo | 8 Nov 2008 | 7:45 pm Netbooks Take a Bite Out of Windows Profitstwitter writes "Analysts at Bloomberg noticed the tumble in Microsoft's traditional software sales last quarter and blamed it on netbooks: 'The devices, which usually cost less than $500, are the fastest-growing segment of the personal-computer industry — a trend that's eating into Microsoft's revenue. Windows sales fell short of forecasts last quarter and the company cut growth projections for the year, citing the lower revenue it gets from netbooks. When makers of the computers do use Windows, they typically opt for older and cheaper versions of the software. Equipping Linux on a computer costs about $5, compared with $40 to $50 for XP and about $100 for Vista, according to estimates by Jenny Lai, a Taipei-based analyst at CLSA Ltd.' This is why MS declared war on the segment last year and palm top computers in previous years. While they may have successfully tamed the Asus EEE PC, they can't hold back everyone who wants to make a buck on cheap hardware and free software. Analysts have predicted the fall of MS's business model when computers break below $250/unit retail. We are there now, and it has shown in the bottom line."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Nov 2008 | 7:24 pm Delve into the microscopic with USBSection: Gadgets / Other
For those of you who think science is cool and wish you had a microscope or who just like looking at small stuff, the USB Microscope is for you. Although perhaps designed for the younger generations, people of any age can have fun looking at anything under a microscope, and in pretty good quality too. It has a resolution of up to 1600x1200 which is not bad and looking at a screen definitely beats looking into a tiny hole. Naturally, there is a pretty good zoom. The zoom is in fact 200x, which gives you incredibly detailed images of the microscopic world. This microscope allows for stills and also videos to be taken. Unfortunately, the resolution for the latter will in all likelihood be capped at 640x480. All in al,l this is a pretty neat gadget that any aspiring scientist should have, although there is one major drawback… When you start getting bored of looking at plants and dollar notes, you will find yourself moving onto your own body, and no matter how clean your hands are they always look repulsive after being magnified 200x. And kids? Let them loose on this and you may find your free 2GB online storage will be filled of horrible pictures of cuts and scars—not nice! But I have to say this is definitely worth the $90 price tag.
Source [EverythingUSB]
Full Story » | Written by Christian Milsom for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Nov 2008 | 7:16 pm Bug In Android Passes Keystrokes To Root Shellpasokon writes "ZDNet reports on an Android bug in T-Mobile G1s with early versions of the firmware: 'When the phone booted it started up a command shell as root and sent every keystroke you ever typed on the keyboard from then on to that shell. Thus every word you typed, in addition to going to the foreground application would be silently and invisibly interpreted as a command and executed with superuser privileges. ... open the keyboard tray on your G1, ignore anything you see on the screen, and type these 8 keystrokes: (enter)-r-e-b-o-o-t-(enter). Poof, your phone will reboot.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Nov 2008 | 6:18 pm Singing in the Rain
Photo: Vincent K Wong [via Notcot] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 8 Nov 2008 | 6:11 pm New Features Added to Digital Music DownloadsNew technology is being used to fill a glaring omission that has existed since the beginning of downloadable music: the lack of liner notes, lyrics, photos and other information that are typically included with most CDs.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Nov 2008 | 6:00 pm CrunchDeals: Aliph Jawbone 2 Bluetooth headset
hile you don’t get the fancy new color options and stuck with just black, this is one hella good deal for the Jawbone 2 headset from CellHut. This is the second incarnation of the Jawbone and the work great and look snazzy doing it. Yes, snazzy. $79 after this coupon code: ALIP2B. CellHut via GadgetReview Source: CrunchGear | 8 Nov 2008 | 5:53 pm BOOM! Top Apple news for the week of 11-02-2008Section:  Check out the best damn Apple site on the planet at Appletell. Don’t know where to start? Here’s a few of this week’s hottest from Appletell to get you started…
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 8 Nov 2008 | 5:51 pm Apple Leapfrogs RIM to Become #2 Smartphone Seller in the World - Gizmodo
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Nov 2008 | 5:43 pm Conversation Consolidation: JS-Kit To Acquire coComment?
JS-Kit raised a total of $4.8 million in two rounds, the Series B for $3.6 million dating back less than a month. coComment was backed by even more venture capital: it had raised a total of $5.6 million from Swisscom and the Japanese Netage Capital Partners. This leads us to believe coComment simply ran out of money and chose to merge with a company offering a similar service rather than dying. Alarm:clock adds that coComment’s US employees (their headquarters are in Switzerland) are being offered jobs at JS-Kit or unceremonously fired. coComment is a service that essentially lets people keep track of all their separate comments and discussions across the web, notifying users of newly posted comments while displaying any comments and conversations that a user may be tracking on sites such as blogs, news, photo sharing, and social bookmarking sites. JS-Kit’s widget library already includes a commenting system, as well as ratings, polls and reviews, all of which can be embedded on a web page with a short snippet of code. Over the summer, JS-Kit acquired HaloScan, another commenting system, to improve its global profiles and better integrate with blog platforms. Hence the title of consolidation in the online conversation world. You may remember SezWho acquired a contextual analysis startup called Tejit last May, and Automattic (the company behind WordPress) also made two acquisitions in this space after last summer: Intense Debate and Polldaddy. Other players include Disqus and Tangler. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 8 Nov 2008 | 5:36 pm Chandrayaan Enters Lunar OrbitWilliam Robinson writes "After an 18-day journey, Chandrayaan-1, the moon mission of India, has entered Lunar orbit. The maneuver was described as crucial and critical by scientists, who pointed out that at least 30 per cent of similar moon missions had failed at this juncture, resulting in spacecraft lost to outer space. The lunar orbit insertion placed Chandrayaan-1 in an elliptical orbit with its nearest point 400 to 500 kilometers away from the moon, and the farthest, 7,500 kilometers. By November 15, the spacecraft is expected to be orbiting the moon at a distance of 100 kilometers and sending back data and images (the camera was tested with shots looking back at Earth). The Chandrayaan-1 is also scheduled to send a probe to the moon's surface."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 8 Nov 2008 | 5:17 pm Toronto college students design device to contact International Space StationTORONTO - Astronauts circling high above the earth should expect a call from four Toronto college students who have surpassed expectations by coupling a simple-looking antenna with a...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Nov 2008 | 5:11 pm First Littoral Combat Ship Commissioned By U.S. NavyMILWAUKEE, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's first Littoral Combat Ship -- USS Freedom (LCS 1) -- was commissioned by the U.S. Navy in Milwaukee, WI today, officially...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 8 Nov 2008 | 5:00 pm Nintendo DSi unceremonially torn apart and examined
You know the drill. A hot new gadget launches and someone - most often a nerd-type - tears it apart for some circuit board pr0n. Hey, we can’t blame ‘em and the next up in this age-old ritual is the Nintendo DSi. The new handheld just launched to an eager Japanese gaming crowd last week, selling over 200,000 in the first few days alone. Chances are one of those units is what we are looking at here as the gaming system doesn’t launch in the States until next summer. Anyway, nothing to ground breaking here but the deconstructor does note that the CPU seems a tad more beefy which could be the reason for the shorter battery life. So there you go, enjoy at your leisure. via MAKE Source: CrunchGear | 8 Nov 2008 | 4:47 pm The Onion sums up OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7 sentiments
Source: CrunchGear | 8 Nov 2008 | 4:15 pm NASA Develops New Technique for Measuring GlaciersA NASA-led research team has used satellite data to make the most precise measurements to date of changes in the mass of mountain glaciers in the Gulf of Alaska, a region expected to be a significant contributor to global sea level rise over the next 50-100 years.Geophysicist Scott Luthcke of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and colleagues knew from well-documented research that changes in the cryosphere -- glaciers, ice caps, and other parts of the globe covered year-round by ice -- are a key source of most global sea level rise.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Nov 2008 | 3:37 pm CrunchDeals: Olens Personal Projector
So this is more of a DIY idea than a CrunchDeals, but it could still go either way. Woot has this medium-size projector up for $179 and while it doesn’t HD, it sure likes mod-friendly and has an VGA port for easy computer hook-up. It measures in at 15″ L x 7″ W x 4″ T making it an almost perfect fit for the top of a computer case. With a little cutting, fabricating, and imagination, this cheap projector could become a hit at your next LAN party when it’s beaming your TF2 game out of the top of your computer case. Just an idea. Source: CrunchGear | 8 Nov 2008 | 3:33 pm Study: Most Drivers Disobey Speed LimitsWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Research suggests U.S. motorists are growing increasingly cynical about the relevance of speed limits, and a new study indicates many motorists are more likely to think they can drive safely while speeding as long as they won't get caught.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Nov 2008 | 3:30 pm Computers Help Predict Human Behavior and LearningA computer model that can predict how people will complete a controlled task and how the knowledge needed to complete that task develops over time is the product of a group of researchers, led by a professor from Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology.Frank Ritter, associate professor of IST and psychology, and his research associates, used the Soar programming language, which is designed to represent human knowledge, on a 20-trial circuit troubleshooting task most recently done by 10 students at the University of Nottingham, UK.Each participant was to identify faults in a circuit system after memorizing the organization of its components and switches.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 8 Nov 2008 | 3:28 pm Carbon Dioxide Levels Already in Danger ZoneNew Haven, Conn. -- If climate disasters are to be averted, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) must be reduced below the levels that already exist today, according to a study published in Open Atmospheric Science Journal by a group of 10 scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom and France.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Nov 2008 | 3:25 pm Honda Reveals Its Own Robotic Leg - DailyTech
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Nov 2008 | 2:46 pm Billboard Liberation Front and Wachovia Bank
Just a few short hours ago, our fiendish friends at Billboard Liberation Front helped Wachovia Bank improve the messaging on a billboard in San Francisco's Mission District. From the BLF's press release: This campaign emphasizes the silver lining in the economic storm front now threatening to swamp our economy as well as our individual fiscal inner tubes.Billboard Liberation Front and Wachovia Bank Source: Boing Boing | 8 Nov 2008 | 2:26 pm Paleontologists Question 'Dinosaur Dance Floor' TheoryImage 1: University of Utah geologist Winston Seiler walks among hundreds of dinosaur footprints in a "trample surface" that likely was a watering hole amid desert sand dunes during the Jurassic Period 190 million years ago. The track site, which also includes some dinosaur tail-drag marks, is located in Coyote Buttes North area along the Arizona-Utah border.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 8 Nov 2008 | 1:30 pm Maru the CatYesterday, I posted about psychopathy, a post that gave commenter Jack the willies, leading him to demand a cute cat video chaser. He suggested the oeuvre of Maru, an overweight male Scottish Fold residing in Japan who has a thing for putting himself into things.Prepare yourself for the awesomeness that is Maru in hot cat-in-box action. Apparently, Maru is huge in Japan. Don't try this one at home, people. Related: Maru's blog. Thanks, Jack! Source: Boing Boing | 8 Nov 2008 | 12:46 pm Weekend project: Build an Iron Man helmet
Sure, Halloween is over but that doesn’t mean you can’t spend your lonely weekend constucting an Iron Man helmet. Instructiable should give you enough info but this might not be for fiberglass or Bondo virgins. Still, you have to start somewhere and if you’re good ‘nough, you too could be rocking an Iron Man helmet just like the winner above. Source: CrunchGear | 8 Nov 2008 | 12:31 pm The Future of Music in the ... - InternetNews.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 8 Nov 2008 | 11:06 am “360″ Music Deals Become Mandatory As Labels Prepare For Free Music
A year ago they were still seen as controversial and experimental. Labels defended them as justification for investing in an artist in a time of decreasing CD sales. Today, though, those deals are becoming mandatory. Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman told the Web 2.0 Summit audience that his label now requires all new artists to sign 360 Deals, and that about a third of their signed artists are under those contracts. Bronfman argued to a hostile crowd that it doesn’t make sense for labels to pour money into artist development when CD sales, their primary source of revenue, continue to decline (although he did say that digital sales now make up 20% of their revenue). Without other ways to make money from an artist, he said, they wouldn’t continue to promote artists. Bronfman also said that 360 deals give labels the ability to give away music for promotional purposes to spur event and merchandise sales. And that, for me, is the key. Bronfman, an outsider to the music world until recently, sees the writing on the wall - music downloads will eventually be free, and will serve as little more than marketing collateral to other revenue streams. 360 deals give labels a place in the new music economy, and there’s nothing wrong with their attempt to keep their businesses alive over the long run. Artists can choose to go with them or not, depending on their own opinion of the benefits. If labels really can bring enough marketing and promotional benefits to the table, artists will take those deals. They may be slaves to the labels, but they have a chance (albeit a very small one) of becoming rich slaves, at least. Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: TechCrunch | 8 Nov 2008 | 10:07 am
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Web analytics startup GetClicky sure was happy when we linked to them a couple of months ago to show 
Last Thursday John Battelle sat down with MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman to 
In the last few years there has been an influx of fun/pointless/interesting/small/useful USB powered devices, and you will be hard pushed to find something you can’t power using USB. However, amid the rubbish that you can find (like the USB powered fragrance oil burner) there is occasionally one that is genuinely interesting, and this is one of them.
We’re still looking to confirm, but alarm:clock 
