Source: Gizmodo | 12 Nov 2008 | 7:30 am

Opera Mini 4.2 Beta Improves Video Support - PC Magazine

TMCnet

Opera Mini 4.2 Beta Improves Video Support PC Magazine - 6 hours ago by Darryl K. Taft Opera Software on Tuesday showcased a preview of Opera Mini 4.2, the newest version of the company's mobile Web browser, with faster browsing and increased personalization features. Opera Releases 4.2 Preview, Hits 20 Million User Mark TMCnet Opera Mini 4.2 beta is a mini update CNET News IntoMobile - Slippery Brick - Mobile Burn - ReadWriteWeb all 37 news articles

Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 12 Nov 2008 | 7:29 am

G10: The latest in the Canon Powershot line

Section: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Imaging, Digital Cameras

I’m a firm believer it’s pretty hard to go wrong with a Canon.  So, I was curious to see how the latest in their G-series measured up to its predecessor, the G9.  It seems as though they did pretty well.

Canon’s latest in their Powershot family is the G10.  It has some changes from the G9, although some of the problems that existed with the G9 are still present.  But, if you are looking for a good prosumer camera, without a “pro camera” price tag this one just may fit the bill nicely.

So what separates it from the G9?  Well, the lens on the G10 is a nice wider angle at 28-140mm.  It also comes with a higher resolution LCD screen, which I think is very handy.  There is a new exposure dial, so you can get your exposure settings just the way you like them without having to constantly go to the menus.  There is a new DIGIC 4 processor.  It also has a new 14.7 megapixel CCD sensor.  This is the highest of any of the Powershot models, and includes a RAW shooting mode.

Unfortunately, according to some reviews, that new sensor wasn’t anything that improved.  Shooting above ISO 400 is still pretty much not going to happen, unless you like a lot of noise in your photos.  So, there you have a downside.

But, the G10 still has many pluses that outweigh some noise at higher ISO ranges.  User reviews on the actual Canon site, for the most part, are very satisfied.  They all are very happy with the picture quality and ease of use of the camera.  One negative mentioned a couple of times referenced the bundled RAW software.  However, if you don’t shoot in RAW (which many people do not), this won’t affect you in the least.

The Powershot G10 is available now at the MSRP of $499.99, although I’ve found it at a couple of stores for about $460.00.  You can get it at Amazon.com (and pay for shipping), or Adorama.com and you’ll get free shipping just to name two places.  If you are looking for a top of the line digital camera that does what you need it to do, take a look at the G10.  In the world of cameras, a Canon is a very safe bet.

via [usacanon]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Nov 2008 | 7:19 am

We can has games

Down in the south end of the Metal detectorist's mysterious find thread, we've been kicking around the idea of running games in the comment threads. We've even played some short games there.

This has now been declared a Good Idea, so we're starting one with this entry. The winner gets applause, glory, and a spot at center stage in which to show off really well. The same goes for everyone else who turns in a good performance. The only difference is that Everyone Else doesn't also get a Gears of War 2 Special Edition Zune 120 GB (see description).

Note: it's a freebie, nothing more. If you're really worried about Boing Boing's purity, you can help protect it by winning the game. As you know, freebies emit a faint, kryptonite-like radiation that only affects Boingers; but since the arrangements call for donor Whitney Biaggi to ship the Zune directly to the winner, and since readers are of course immune to freebie-radiation, things should work out just fine.

We're going to be running more games and contests in the near future, with prizes from other donors. If you're planning to kick up a big fuss about some imagined commercialization, please bear in mind that (1.) freebies aren't terribly memorable unless someone makes a fuss about them; and (2.) eventually even you will get bored at having to kick up a fuss whenever someone snags a prize, and the rest of us will get bored a lot sooner than that.

You're a clever bunch. Let's play games instead.

The first one's simple: write some verse about one or more recurrent Boing Boing obsessions: steampunk, the TSA, unlikely mods, papercraft, mashups, gadgets, emergent properties of the Zombie Apocalypse, DIY, FISA, comics, photographers' rights, WTF, FTW, wristwatches, skiffy history, misused tasers, making a foo out of bar, cryptozoology, Tibet, animation, copyright abuse, drives, hacks, sex, robots, robot hacks, hacking sex, sex with robots, emergent properties of sex with steampunked robots during the Zombie Apocalypse forestalled by misuse of copyright by body-modded TSA official using LEDs and a 9-volt battery, et cetera, found dead on beach in Long Island. (Not a complete list.) Best poem wins. If you turn down the prize, you get a jar of marmalade, and the runner-up gets the Zune. The moderation guidelines still apply.

All other things being equal, your poem is likelier to win if it rhymes and scans; even more so if it's formal verse. Villanelles count more than limericks. Alternately, write it as a pastiche of a recognizable work or author. Pastiches may be prose, but may not be long, and had better be good. For extra extra credit, write your piece as an on-topic comment in some other thread, then re-post it here. All other things being equal, wit, language, and happy mutancy win.

Finally, feel free to suggest other games to be played in future threads.

Source: Boing Boing | 12 Nov 2008 | 6:55 am

Opera Mini 4.2 beta released

It has been just under six months since Opera last released an update to Opera Mini, but they’ve finally got a new beta to share. Released today, the Opera Mini 4.2 beta adds in a few new features (and revives a few old ones) to help keep the browser competitive in the never ending battle for the free mobile browser crown.

The new stuff in the 4.2 beta:

• Skinning: It’s not quite new, but it’s been missing for a while. Last seen in Opera Mini 3, skinning allows users to make the browser as pink as they could possibly want.
• US Servers: A big chunk of Opera Mini’s appeal (or it’s biggest flaw, if you’re paranoid) is that all data passes through a optimization proxy, shrinking it down and knocking out a bunch of junk your mobile handset doesn’t need to parse. As anyone who’s ever dug for their IP in Opera Mini might know, everything was previously routed through Norway. With this release, they’ve added a few servers in the US, improving load times and performance for everyone.
• Note Syncing: Using Opera Link, you can sync notes from the Opera desktop browser to your mobile browser without a whole lot of fuss.
• Video: It’s no reason for Skyfire to start shaking in its boots, but the Opera Mini 4.2 beta now support m.youtube.com and other mobile video content on certain handsets. While I can’t track down exactly which content it supports, I’d assume 3GP/RTSP

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 12 Nov 2008 | 6:34 am

Identifying People By Odor As Effective As Fingerprinting

A study has found that everybody has a unique body odor, like their fingerprints, that could be used as an unique identifier. The study showed that a persons unique odor stayed the same even if they varied their diet with strong smelling foods such as garlic and spices. "These findings indicate that biologically-based odorprints, like fingerprints, could be a reliable way to identify individuals," said Monell chemist Jae Kwak. I would have thought that hundreds of years of dogs tracking people would have proved this, but it's nice to know that science has figured it out officially now.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Nov 2008 | 6:13 am

Say goodbye to speeding fines and your conscience

Section: Gadgets / Other, Transportation

Everybody hates being caught by speed cameras: it is annoying, humiliating and also expensive, and that is why Novus have come up with the “Mini Coyote” which allows drivers to alert others of speed cameras in as little as three seconds.  The little gadget will sit on your dashboard, and when you spot a speed camera that isn’t already in the database you press the handy button and before you know it everyone with that gadget knows of it.

“Brilliant!” I hear you cry, finally a way to beat those money grabbing machines, which it does quite effectively.  Although this idea isn’t new, the super speed at which it does it allows the community of users to quickly build up a good idea of where all the speed traps are due to the fact that it only takes 3 seconds.  The little gadget will then tell you if you are approaching any speed cameras, your speed, and will tell you to slow down if you are going too fast thus avoiding a fine.

So this is great, and this is gadget is brilliant at what it does, but is this good?  Firstly, this isn’t legal, per se, as it is against the law to warn another driver of an upcoming speed trap.  Although this is in place to stop people putting signs up telling motorists, this will fall under it, and although you are virtually guaranteed not to get caught, it is still a very gray area.

So if you can face breaking the law, you still have a few moral crevasses to jump the first addressing the fact that speed traps are there for a purpose.  They are there to act as a deterrent, thus slowing people down to the speed limit so as to save lives.  So although you may be able to control your speed, can someone who knows that there are no cameras do it?  Is it not immoral to give an idiot that will go on that road later the information that there are no speed cameras there and that they can speed without being caught?  The answer to that is yes, it probably is.

So will you buy this?  It does its job very well, and if you speed regularly, this is for you.  But should you buy it?  Are you not bypassing laws that are there for a purpose?  And bear in mind that the money in speeding fines goes to the government, which uses it for things like benefits, the fire service and charity.  So personally, I wouldn’t get it, and it is up to your conscience to decide, but I am sure that if you do there will be plenty of taxi drivers with it that will help you fill up the database.

Source [timesonline]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Nov 2008 | 6:12 am

Firmware 2.2 coming to an iPhone near you on November 21?

FROM APPLETELL - It looks as if iPhone Firmware 2.2 will be out November 21st. Will your most wanted feature be included?
MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Nov 2008 | 5:18 am

Monster going audiophile, intros the Turbine in-ear speakers

It’s become apparent that Monster is getting into the high-end audiophile game with the launch of the Beats earlier in the year and now the in-ear Turbine ‘speakers’. I’ve only had an hour or two to check them out, but I can honestly say that I’m pleasantly surprised at the performance of the Turbines thus far.

I’ve always been a proponent that you shouldn’t be doing something you’re not passionate about and Kevin Lee, Noel Lee’s son, is obviously passionate about what he does and I have the utmost respect for that.

“My father and I have always wanted to make a headphone that didn’t sound like a “headphone”. We have the up most respect for all the headphone companies that are in business, because we now know it is not easy. That said, we are humbly proud of what we’ve achieve in Monster Turbines. We only hope everyone else agrees”

You can really tell the difference between these and the shitty earbuds you get pre-packaged with all the MP3 players on the market like Apple and Microsoft’s earbuds. The Turbines really are high-end-like audiophile buds at a price point that’s not out outrageous at $150.

The mid-range is crisp, but I’ve mainly been paying attention to the lows and highs. It really thumps on the low-end bass and reminds me of my high school days when I had a high-end stereo system in my car. The highs don’t get distorted when you crank up the volume like they do on other earbuds.

However, the Turbines aren’t going to replace your super high-end Shures or Etymotics with custom molded tips, but they do a very good job of isolating outside noise with the tips that are provided. Like I said before, you’ll notice the difference when playing higher bit rate tracks.

We’ll have a full review when I get a chance to use them on some more high-end tracks than what I have on my iPhone or laptop. But I like them so far and I’m used to high-end in-ears if that tells you anything.

Brisbane, CA, November 11, 2008 – Monster, well known for working with legendary
musicians on countless productions recorded with Monster Cable and Monster Power
products, is proud to announce the introduction of its new “Turbine In-Ear Speakers,” the
world’s first high-performance in-ear headphones with specially engineered drivers that deliver
impeccable audiophile-quality sound.

With the ever-increasing popularity of portable media devices, more and more people are using
headphones for music listening, making them the most important connection between people and
their music. Monster’s new Turbine In-Ear Speakers were personally designed by the Head
Monster Noel Lee, undergoing three years of rigorous research, development, and refinement.
The advanced design and engineering of Monster Turbines offer music lovers a new way to
enjoy big speaker sound in a compact in-ear headphone design.

Sound So Big We Had To Call Them Speakers
Monster Turbine In-Ear Speakers feature 8mm drivers precision-engineered for superb sonic
detail that delivers the big sound, deep bass, and clarity that you’d expect from full size high-end
speakers. To further enhance the listening experience, a selection of sound isolating eartips in
multiple sizes offer a secure custom fit to seal out unwanted external noise. In addition, the
advanced metal housing design minimizes unwanted vibration for even clearer sound.
Monster’s advanced cable technologies also enable Turbines to deliver superior performance.
Patented FluxTube delivers more accurate audio, while MicroStrand conductors ensure
maximum cable flexibility and better signal transfer.

Noel Lee, Head Monster, noted: “Life is too short to listen to bad headphones. Unfortunately,
ordinary headphones simply can’t reproduce the deep bass and rich highs of full-size speaker
systems. Monster is on a mission to make headphones sound better, and our new Turbine In-Ear
Speakers allow people to hear truly remarkable sound from in-ear headphones. Hearing is
believing. After all, the human ear can discern much more than any technical measuring device,
and the performance of Monster Turbines needs to be heard to be believed.”

Monster Turbine In-Ear Speakers will be rolled out in limited production beginning in
November, for a suggested retail price of $149.95 per pair. The debut of Turbine In-Ear Speakers
is part of Monster’s commitment to improve the quality of the portable audio experience,
complementing the company’s recent introduction of Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ , a brand new line
of headphones co-developed with legendary artist and producer Dr. Dre.

Source: CrunchGear | 12 Nov 2008 | 5:00 am

Gallery: Classic Instruction Manuals

How do you run the A/C on a spy plane? Where's the Start button on a nuclear power plant? Don't try to wing it: Read the directions! A portfolio of classic instruction manuals.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Nov 2008 | 5:00 am

Nov. 12, 1935: You Should (Not) Have a Lobotomy

1935: The world's first modern frontal leukotomy is performed in a Lisbon hospital by Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz.

Moniz's leukotomy (or leucotomy, from the Greek for "cutting white," in this case the brain's white matter) soon became popularly known as the lobotomy. It was not, however, the surgical procedure now generally associated with lobotomies. Rather, Moniz drilled two holes in the patient's skull and injected pure alcohol into the frontal lobes of the brain to destroy the tissue, in an effort to alter the patient's behavior.

Within a year of Moniz's procedure at Lisbon's Santa Marta Hospital, American neurosurgeons Walter Freeman and James Watts had performed the first prefrontal lobotomy in the United States. Their approach, which they would continue refining in subsequent surgeries, also involved drilling holes, but instead of using alcohol they surgically severed the nerves connecting the prefrontal cortex to the thalamus.

With various refinements, this became standard operating procedure for the prefrontal lobotomy.

Lobotomies were performed on patients suffering from severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia and clinical depression, although its use on people identified as having social disorders was not unknown. That the lobotomy succeeded in altering a person's personality and behavior is beyond dispute, but the results were often drastic, and occasionally fatal.

The notion that a mental patient's behavior could be modified for the good by psychosurgery had its roots in the work of Gottlieb Burckhardt, a 19th century Swiss neurologist who performed a number of crude surgical lobotomies and declared the procedure generally successful. His documentation was almost nonexistent, however, and the view was never universally held in the medical fraternity.

Although Moniz would share the 1949 Nobel Prize in medicine for his pioneering work in psychosurgery, the lobotomy had not only fallen out of favor by the 1950s but was being excoriated as a barbaric practice. The Soviet Union banned the surgery in 1950, arguing that it was "contrary to the principles of humanity." Other countries, including Germany and Japan, banned it, too, but lobotomies continued to be performed on a limited scale in the United States, Britain, Scandinavia and several western European countries well into the 1980s.

The United States performed more lobotomies -- roughly 40,000 -- than any other nation. Some very conspicuous failures, including a lobotomy that reduced John F. Kennedy's elder sister, Rosemary, to a near-vegetative state, helped turn public opinion against the surgery.

Or, as the hard-drinking wit Dorothy Parker observed: "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy."

Source: Various

Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Nov 2008 | 5:00 am

Back to the Future With Lincoln's Keyless Entry Pad

The MKS is a nice car. But the touchless keypad on the door is about as technologically advanced as a Walkman and as cool as a Member's Only jacket.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Nov 2008 | 5:00 am

Fisker's on a Roll and Michigan Gets Karma

Fisker Automotive crows about more good news and thumbs its nose at arch rival Tesla Motors, but we still haven't seen the Karma.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Nov 2008 | 5:00 am

Classmates.com User Sues; Schoolmates Weren't Really Looking for Him

When Classmates.com told user Anthony Michaels last Christmas Eve that his former school chums were trying to contact him, he pulled out his wallet and upgraded to the premium membership that would let him contact long-lost fifth-grade dodge-ball buddies and see if his secret crush from high school had looked him up online.

But once he'd parted with the $15, Michaels learned the shocking truth: No one he knew was trying to contact him at all. Classmates.com's come-on was a lie, and he'd been scammed.

At least that's what the San Diego resident alleges in a lawsuit (.pdf) filed against one of the net's original social networking sites, whose banner ads featuring unflattering yearbook pictures remain a staple around the internet. If the lawsuit, which is seeking class action status, succeeds, it could raise the minimum standards of honesty for online businesses.

"Upon logging into his Gold Membership profile in order to view the classmate contacts … Plaintiff discovered that in fact, no former classmate of his had tried to contact him or view his profile," the complaint reads. "Of those www.classmates.com users who were characterized ... as members who viewed Plaintiff's profile, none were former classmates of Plaintiff or persons familiar with or known to Plaintiff for that matter."

The putative class action suit, filed in a California state court on October 30, says there are hundreds of thousands of Anthony Michaels around the country who were similarly duped. The lawsuit asks the court to force the company to refund millions in subscription dollars and fine the company for deceptive advertising.

Lawsuits that seem funny are not always a laughing matter, according to Scott A. Kamber, a plaintiff's attorney with KamberEdelson.

"Cases that seemingly have a similar chuckle factor are rooted in a real consumer fraud that influences a consumer purchase decision," Kamber said. "Sometimes people are defrauded and misled and obviously there is a financial benefit in companies making those claims or they wouldn't do it."

Classmates.com could have a good defense, according to internet law expert Mark Rasch, if someone was actually contacting Michaels but was defrauding Clasmates.com by claiming to have gone to a certain high school.

"Or were they making statements they know to be false to induce a person to pony up the oney for a premium service to learn these statements weren't true?" Rasch asked. "A lot of this comes down to knowledge and intent on the part of Classmates.com."

Classmates.com was founded in 1995, years before Friendster, MySpace or Facebook grew popular, and is one of the net's largest advertisers, having spent $30 million in 2005, for example, on online advertising.

The company claims to have 40 million registered users, some of whom pay $15 every three months to be able to send and receive messages. The site's billing practices are complained about nearly daily on ConsumerAffairs.com.

The suit is not the first legal action accusing a prominent online company of deception. In 2003, Bonzi Software settled a class action lawsuit that alleged its banner ads (which mimicked Windows operating system warnings) were deceptive. And in January, Member Source Media agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint about the company's spam messages that promised consumers, "Congratulations. You've won an iPod video player."

While the FTC and state attorneys general have handled some deceptive advertising claims, in tight financial times the burden of online fraud fighting is increasingly falling on class-action attorneys, according to Kamber.

"Attorney General offices are seriously under budget pressure and federal enforcement in last eight last years has not been picking up the slack for the state budget issues," Kamber said. "That leaves class action attorneys on the front line of technology in the consumer area."

Neither Classmates.com nor Michaels' law firm, Kabateck, Brown and Kellner, responded to requests for comment.

Attorney Erik Sinrod, a partner at Duane Morris in San Francisco and a legal columnist at Findlaw, says that legitmate companies make a better target for lawsuits than outright scammers, like those sending fraudulent offers of long-lost Nigerian fortunes.

"Classmates.com is not some fly-by-night company -- it is a real service, not something being operated by unknown people offshore," Sinrod said. "So they are subject to U.S. law and regulators if they are conduct themselves improperly."

Source: Wired Top Stories | 12 Nov 2008 | 5:00 am

Bright Spots for Consumer Electronics in 2009

The consumer electronics industry, like every other industry, is worried about its prospects for 2009. A shrinking economy, vanishing jobs and an imploding financial system cast long shadows over the coming year. But there are few bright spots on the horizon for CE manufacturers, according the Consumer Electronics Association, mainly involving green technology, next-generation input methods such as multi-touch screens and motion sensors and embedded internet access.

Consumer electronics claims to be "the only industry that has a growth rate of over seven percent" despite the economic climate, possibly because some of its products can replace other, more expensive entertainment options. If the economy continues to decline, CE manufacturers harbor a hope that consumers will react by "cocooning" in their homes, surrounding themselves with electronic comforts like HDTVs, Blu Ray players and videogame consoles. While it can be expensive initially, the homebody lifestyle pays dividends by cutting down on activities outside the home (movies, restaurants, bars, travel, concerts and so on).

So, what new gear will you be willing to plunk down your hard-earned (or -saved) money for, come 2009? We scoped out a some of next year's hottest products on Tuesday night at a New York preview for the Consumer Electronics Show. Here's what we liked:

MainGear Axess HD

This Windows Vista Media Center PC ($1500) is the first to feature D2's high-end digital signal processor, which allows it to pump out cleaner, louder audio to surround sound speakers than any of the competition, according to a company spokesman. Relevant sound specs include a signal-to-noise ratio of 105 dB and a total harmonic distortion of 0.1 percent. The MainGear Axess HD accepts a standard cable card, so it can be used with your cable or satellite provider, while its ability to function as a normal computer lets you mix in a healthy amount of web content. Windows-phobes will be happy to know that it works with Linux media center platforms including MythTV. The 93-percent-energy-efficient Class D amplifier should help out with your electricity bill if you're upgrading from a system with a traditional Class AB amplifier.

Optoma Pico Projector PK-101

Optoma has "the first" digital light processing (DLP) pico projector for projecting the photos and videos stored on iPods and other devices onto the nearest white surface. The "DLP" part of the equation means Optoma's model manages a higher contrast ratio (2,000:1) than the competition and more vibrant colors. From what we saw, the image quality from the device's LED light source was decent enough at about two feet wide, with the projector about four feet from the miniature projection screen. An iPod adapter kit will be optional at $30; otherwise, the Optoma Pico Projector PK-101 ($400) takes a standard composite video input. The device comes with two batteries, each of which lasts 2 hours in slideshow mode or 1.5 hours in video mode using the half-brightness setting. Halve those times for the full-brightness battery life estimates (now do you see why it comes with two batteries?) Bonus: you can mount it on a standard camera tripod using an included adapter.

Lenovo ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive

Lenovo's ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive ($180 for base model) lets you carry around data secured by 128-bit encryption and a 6-12 digit password. The shock-mounted 2.5-inch SATA hard drive (160GB or 320GB) helps this "mobile data vault" keep data safe from jolts in addition to thieves or snoops, while a USB 2.0 cable can be stored within the device's housing for easy travel. It's not for everyone, but with ongoing concerns of identity and data theft sure to be with us next year, you can't be too careful.

Newber Beta iPhone App

As its name sort of suggests, Newber gives you a phone number that follows you around during your day. When someone calls, you can tap a button on your iPhone to route the call to the nearest landline -- friends' houses, offices or wherever -- using the iPhone's GPS function. You can choose to accept incoming calls on your iPhone or the nearest known landline, potentially saving you money on your wireless plan, preserving your iPhone's battery and impressing your friends. If you choose to sign up for $5 per month, Newber will assign you a new number. But that should change; as a fully-licensed telco, Newber says it's working on adding the ability to port current phone numbers into the system.

Dish Network DTVPal DVR

Only 12 percent of Americans plan to scale back on their cable costs in response to the economy, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, but that number might escalate if the economy continues to sputter. If you're thinking of cutting the cable or satellite cord in favor of free over-the-air digital broadcasts and you still watch -- or have downgraded to -- a television that only has analog inputs, Dish Network has you covered with the DTVPal DVR ($250 after government rebate), the first digital-to-analog converter box with a built-in DVR. Previously, the best option for this scenario was TiVo, which requires a monthly fee. And yes, it records over-the-air high-definition channels in high definition. For what could be a thrifty 2009, the DTVPal's lack of any monthly fee could help trim the budget while allowing you to record digital and HD signals to its hard drive (150 hours of standard definition or 30 hours of high definition). It was announced in January, but with the February 27 digital TV switchover approaching, Dish Network is understandably excited about moving more of these in 2009.

Zoombak Universal A-GPS Locator

Like that UPS package you've been chasing after, the Zoombak Universal A-GPS Locator ($200) alerts you whenever it enters certain geographical zones. But rather than coffee and binoculars, all it needs is a good battery charge (five days in standby mode) for its GPS and communication system. Clearly, these devices could be used to infringe privacy, but a company spokesman assured us that Zoombak "does not condone or recommend that the device be used for those things." Problem solved! Recommended uses include dropping one of these in your teenager's car so that you know whether or not they drove to school and, if so, when they arrived. Whenever one of these tiny modules enters a specified GPS area, a text message and e-mail let you know the good news (or bad news, as the case may be).

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:26 am

AVG names critical Windows file as a Trojan

Section: Computers, Security, Software / Applications, Web, Downloads, Web Apps, Websites

Many users of AVG 7.5 and AVG 8 were stuck with Windows systems that didn’t operate after the AVG security scanner software mistakenly identified a necessary Windows component as a Trojan virus. 

The file user32.dll was tagged incorrectly as a banking Trojan after a signature update on Sunday.  The AVG scanner then advised users to delete the “harmful file.” So, of course...many listened.  And when they did, they were stuck with a system that either would not boot or else was knocked into a continuous reboot cycle.

AVG did respond to the whole problem yesterday on their site.  They offered advice to affected users and updated their definition files to get rid of the false alarm detection from the signature database.

Although false alarms obviously do happen with just about every security scanning vendor at some time, it is obviously a pain in the rear when it affects a core Windows file.  And this AVG snafu is following closely on the heels of their problem just last month, when it mistakenly identified CheckPoint’s Zone Alarm as a Trojan.

Many people seem to be thinking that AVG is really starting to go downhill as of late.  It gained much of its popularity because of its free version.  However, if you are looking for other reputable virus scanners that are also free, there are other choices out there.  One that is highly recommended is avast! Another you may want to check into is avira.

But as always, if you are told to delete a file, and it looks like something you may need, double check it.  VirusTotal is great for just this sort of thing.  Type in the name of your file, and it will check it with all the biggie virus scanners.  Less chance of you deleting something critical and being stuck in reboot land.

Via [securityandthenet]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:20 am

Gadgets For a Budding Geek?

fprintf writes "As much as I hate to admit it, it looks like my 13-year-old son is following in my footsteps and preferring interesting, science-based toys. In the past he has been really interested in Lava Lamps, Newton's Cradle, and anything magnetic. It seems the knick-knacks that have generated the most interest were small and relatively inexpensive. For example, a small laser pointer keychain I bought him a couple of years ago still provides tons of entertainment. Yesterday I showed him ThinkGeek and he really liked the Levitron. I wanted to ask the Slashdot crowd what were some other really neat, interesting gadgets? Is there anything cool in the under-$50 range that you would like in your stocking this year?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:18 am

Fan powered flying car

Charles Platt pointed me to this Times Online article about a fan-poweerd flying car. The British inventor is going to fly it from London to Timbuktu.

“This thing will launch itself without any pilot input,” says Cardozo. “You just open it up and it goes. The more power you put on, the faster you go until you come off the ground [at 35mph]. The wing will basically lock above you [once airborne] and stay there, without weaving, at speeds of up to 80mph.”

Fully road-legal - the car passed the government’s single vehicle approval test last month - and designed to run on bioethanol, Cardozo’s Skycar is powered by a modified 140bhp Yamaha R1 superbike engine with a lightweight automatic CVT (continuously variable transmission) gear-box from a snowmobile. It boasts Ferrari-beating acceleration on land, an air speed of up to 80mph and can swap between road and flight modes in minutes.

The flying car

Source: Boing Boing | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:00 am

BlackBerry Storm user guide revealed, pricing information leaked

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

Nothing yet in terms of a launch date, however some new information has been released and also revealed about the BlackBerry Storm.  To begin with, RIM has officially release the interactive online “User Guide” for the Storm. 

The guide is what most geeks would typically ignore, and covers everything from the basics of setting up your device, to using the Storm, and even some “advanced” topics such as the desktop software and switching from another handset.  If nothing else, the online guide does offer some nice images of the Storm and should prove to be a good read for that reason alone.

Moving on, we have some additional information regarding the pricing of the Storm.  We should point out that this information has not been made official, and although it seems to be along the lines of what we have previously mentioned, it should still be considered a rumor. 

The pricing information comes courtesy of some screenshots that were taken from an internal Verizon website.  Based on the images, it looks like the Storm will set you back $519.99 at full retail, or $219.99 with a two-year agreement and $289.99 with a one-year agreement.  All-in-all, if these prove to be accurate they Storm could see some very nice sales.

Keep reading to check out the screenshots of the pricing information below…

Read [User Guide] Read [HowardForums]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Nov 2008 | 3:31 am

dukaUS Launches Free Conference Calling, Realizes It Won’t Make Money

Jaduka, a communications company that effectively creates an API for telephone-based services, has a launched a new conference call service called dukaUS that’s easy to use and totally free.

To initiate a call, you need to create an account (name, Email address, and phone number, but no billing information). After entering up to six phone numbers, the site will automatically dial each number and connect them over the service’s land-based phone system. After the call starts you can add more callers (up to the limit of six total participants) through the site’s web page.

Unsurprisingly, there are a few restrictions to the free service: all numbers involved must be in the United States or Canada, and you’re allotted a total of 30 minutes per day for group calls. The system also has a few quirks. In our test call with three people, there was a noticeable lag - nothing that would make a conversation unintelligible, but definitely enough to get annoying. The system also doesn’t seem to recognize if one of the members of the call gets disconnected, and there’s no ‘re-connect’ button - you’ll need to re-add dropped participants as another member of the call.

Still, for a free service that takes relatively little effort to set up, dukaUS delivers. And while it may not be suitable for lengthy business calls that are typically done over call bridges, it’s more than adequate for more casual group meetings.

Offering free conference calls isn’t a new idea, but it’s also one that never seemed like a viable business. We’ve seen similar services from startups like Gaboogie (which eventually shifted focus) and Foonz, which is still around but will likely have a hard time generating revenue. But dukaUS isn’t out to make money - it’s a product developed by Jaduka Labs to showcase the site’s technology and raise brand awareness, so it won’t be struggling to find a way to turn its complimentary service into a business.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Nov 2008 | 3:16 am

DataTraveler 100 4GB Flash Drive on sale at Newegg for $7.99

Section: Computers, Gadgets / Other, Household, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Peripherals, Storage, Web, Websites

If Santa is looking for stocking stuffers, or if you are just looking for some portable storage at a good price, you may want to check out one of Newegg’s latest “Special Buys.”

Right now, they are offering the Kingston DataTravelor 100 4GB flash drive for just $7.99 complete with free shipping.

I’ve compare shopped the item at some other sites.  Overstock is actually asking $21.99 for the same item. (Which is just ridiculous, even Newegg doesn’t list that as the regular price).

The DataTraveler has Plug and Play ease of use.  Your information is uploaded and downloaded in no time at all with USB 2.0.  It is lightweight, while still being rugged enough to take on bumps and jostles. 

Reviews from users that I’ve read have all been positive.  All stated that they were happy with their purchase, it was simple to use, delivered on what it should do, and they liked that there was no format needed (unless you are running a pre-Win2K machine, then you’ll have to download the drivers).  Lots of people loved the slider stick, no caps to lose.  Speed seemed to be really pretty decent from user comments.

4GB for $7.99? Not too shabby.  But you may want to shop now before they go back to the regular price. 

via [Newegg]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Nov 2008 | 3:10 am

An Appeal In the "Harry Potter Lexicon" Case

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "RDR Books, the would-be publisher of the book version of the 'Harry Potter Lexicon' Web site, has filed an appeal from the Judge's decision in Warner Bros. Pictures v. RDR Books, the case involving the Harry Potter Lexicon. The Judge, after a bench trial, issued an injunction and awarded statutory damages of $6,750 (as we discussed at the time), holding that the Lexicon was not protected by fair use due to (a) sloppiness in attribution in sections, (b) the length of some of the quotes, and (c) imitation of J. K. Rowling's writing style in portions. I recently wrote an article criticizing the opinion, but doubting that an appeal would be taken in view of the small damages award. I guess I underestimated the resolve of the defendants and defendants' lawyers — who include the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Nov 2008 | 2:28 am

Veterans Day salute: surprising gadgets from wars

Section: Gadgets / Other, Originals, Features

Today in the USA, we honor our soldiers.  While today’s soldiers are usually outfitted in the latest gadget gear we all know about, Gadgetell takes a look back at previous generations of gadgets.  Our findings might surprise you.

Motorola intros the WWII RAZR

Meet the Moto SCR-536.  Imagine the soldiers dancing in a foxhole when the CO calls with the “Hello Moto” ringtone blares.  OK, maybe not.  But this is the real deal, the Handie-Talkie was the world’s first two-way AM radio.  It weighted just under 7 lbs and had an 8-hour talk time.  I’ll avoid any comparisons to Moto’s current line up, feel free to make your own and chuckle.  Moto’s device was way ahead of the competition and up to 26lbs lighter.  Way out in front.

Google War Maps?

Um, no.  But similar.  Introduced in 2006, DARPA’s TIGR (Tactical Ground Reporting System) replaces stale map information with a multimedia display that has become a patrolling soldier’s best friend (or at least one of them).  The map is continually updated with info from other patrols, historical significance of problem areas, icons, etc.  Months of data is presented helping troops pick the best routes, become aware of danger zones and being as prepared information-wise for duty.

Where would KFC be with this?

Lore has it the spork (half spoon, half fork) was created out of necessity during the Civil War.  The original utensil also added in a knife for cutting in addition to the scooping and stabbing features of the spoon and fork.  It is not clear if the spork is, in fact, the reason the North won.

A phone, a map and a spork.  What more is needed?  Happy Veterans Day.

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 12 Nov 2008 | 2:04 am

Microsoft's lobbying tab dwarfs Google's tally (AP)

AP - The most recent federal disclosure forms offer a stark reminder of Microsoft Corp.'s mighty Washington presence: The software giant's tab of almost $2 million for the third quarter alone nearly equaled the amount its rival Google Inc. spent in the first nine months of the year.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:56 am

Flip Camcorder Goes High-Def [The Mossberg Solution]

Over the past couple of years, Pure Digital Technologies has changed the way people think about video cameras by turning these heavy, expensive, intimidating devices into affordable, user-friendly gadgets that fit into a shirt pocket.

To keep the prices of its Flip camcorders affordable, Pure Digital always made some sacrifices in quality and style. And though the company improved on style in June by releasing the sleek $180 Flip Mino, it stuck with standard definition while other companies boasted high-definition capturing capabilities.

Today, Pure Digital adds a high-def member to its family: the $230 Flip MinoHD. This handheld camcorder looks like the original Mino (more digital camera than video camera), but the MinoHD is capable of capturing high-definition footage in 1280×720 pixel resolution, or 720p. (The regular Mino records at 680×480 pixels.)

Both cameras can be personalized with colorful designs that people can either make themselves or select from TheFlip.com. It’s also possible to upload personal photos to decorate the camcorder. This personalization process is free on new Minos, but people who want to personalize Minos they already own are out of luck.

I brought my MinoHD along on a weekend trip to a lake in North Carolina and used it to capture beautiful images of leaves at their color-changing peak and games of charades among friends. Overall, I really liked the quality of the footage, which had rich hues and sharp details such as glistening ripples of waves on the lake’s surface. And the MinoHD’s improved sound even clearly picked up the voices of two guys paddling away from our dock in a canoe.

But if you’re the type of person who likes to play back videos after capturing them, you might be disappointed that the MinoHD’s 1.5-inch screen is no larger than the previous models. This means you won’t get a good look at the high-definition footage until you play clips back on a computer.

Another downside is that high-definition footage is much too large to easily send to others in its original format, so it must be compressed to 480×270-pixel resolution for sharing on Pure Digital’s software. Previous Flips also compressed videos for sharing (the Mino uses 360×270), but I particularly missed the ability to easily show others my videos in HD quality via the camera’s software. Pure Digital says it’ll enable HD sharing through a partner company by early next year.

The Flip MinoHD weighs 3.3 ounces and has four gigabytes of internal memory, or twice that of its predecessor, yet both hold 60 minutes of video because the HD format takes up twice as much space. In true Pure Digital style, the camera’s seven buttons are easy to use: Press the red record button to start and stop, and press plus or minus buttons to zoom in or out with a 2x digital zoom while recording. A play/pause button plays back videos and a delete button gets rid of unwanted footage to free up memory; alternatively, videos can be offloaded to a PC.

The MinoHD comes loaded with new software called FlipShare. I found this worked much better than Pure Digital’s previous sharing software, which was rather straightforward but had its share of quirks and rough edges. FlipShare worked on Macs and PCs running Windows Vista and XP. I should note that the software crashed and insisted on changing the color scheme on my Vista laptop the first two times I plugged in my MinoHD, but I had no problems after that.

FlipShare’s use of drag-and-drop video organizing resembles the way that Apple (AAPL) iTunes songs can be dragged into playlists. And just as iTunes searches for music when it’s installed, FlipShare scoured my computers for other Flip videos, neatly arranging those clips into folders. I easily named videos, and clips not saved to the computer were clearly marked as “Unsaved.” Eight large icons at the bottom of the FlipShare software illustrate what can be done with the videos: save to computer; play full screen; share via email, greeting card or Web site (YouTube, AOL Video or MySpace — no Facebook as of yet); or create a movie, snapshot or DVD.

FlipShare works with other Pure Digital camcorders, and users of the older software will get a prompt to upgrade to FlipShare next week. It’s also fully compatible with Apple’s video applications, including iMovie and iDVD. And when I plugged in my MinoHD, iTunes opened and asked if I wanted to import my MinoHD footage.

Pure Digital says the MinoHD’s internal battery lasts for two hours of overall use (recording, playback, standby, etc.) or for 90 minutes of straight recording. Compared with other Flip video cameras, this battery life is half that of the Mino and on par with the older Flip Ultra, which runs on two double-A batteries.

After using the fully charged device to record 60 minutes of footage over a weekend, I still had about one hour remaining. It charges by plugging its pop-out USB connector into any computer’s USB port, and will also work with some USB chargers, though not Apple’s. Pure Digital will sell a standalone charger for $20 that should be available by the end of the year.

If you’re in the market for a simple camcorder that records high-quality video, the Flip MinoHD is definitely worth $50 more than the regular Flip Mino. But don’t say I didn’t warn you so when you’re bummed out by the screen’s still-small size and its inability to share true HD footage via the FlipShare software.

– Edited by Walter S. Mossberg

• Email us at mossbergsolution@wsj.com. Find this and other columns and videos online free at the All Things Digital Web site: http://walt.allthingsd.com

Source: All Things Digital | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:40 am

uberVu To Clean Up The Blog/Twitter/FriendFeed Conversation Mess

London based uberVU is about to launch a discussion-tracking product that will aggregate comments, Twitters, FriendFeed comments, trackbacks and other information about any URL (like a blog post) on the Internet.

There’s real demand for this. Any given blog post, for example, may have lots of comments and trackbacks (links from other blogs discussing the post). But the conversation can soon splinter off as side discussions spring up on Twitter, FriendFeed, or other blogs. uberVU aggregates all that discussion (even trackbacks on trackbacks, for example), and presents it via a threaded interface both on its site and via an API. The company is also creating plugins for various blogging platforms, allowing users to easily pull the conversation back to the original posts.

This is an area that startups have experimented with for years, either aggregating by user or by URL. CoComment was an early attempt at aggregating unique user comments across sites (Disqus, SezWho, JS-Kit, Intense Debate and BackType are more recent examples). Less has been done on aggregating discussions around a specific story or URL, but FriendFeed’s API allows publishers to pull in specific FriendFeed comments on a story, and Quotably has tried to aggregate Twitter discussions (it is now deadpooled).

uberVU is distinctly different from anything that’s come before, however, and may go a long way towards organizing the discussion mess we’re in now. It’s in private beta now, but you can sign up on their home page to get an invitation.

UberVu is a Seedcamp startup.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:18 am

Google Can Predict the Flu

An anonymous reader mentions Google Flu Trends, a newly unveiled initiative of Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm. The claim is that this Web service, which aggregates search data to track outbreaks of influenza, can spot disease trends up to 2 weeks before Centers for Disease Control data can. The NYTimes writeup begins: "What if Google knew before anyone else that a fast-spreading flu outbreak was putting you at heightened risk of getting sick? And what if it could alert you, your doctor and your local public health officials before the muscle aches and chills kicked in? That, in essence, is the promise of Google Flu Trends, a new Web tool... unveiled on Tuesday, right at the start of flu season in the US. Google Flu Trends is based on the simple idea that people who are feeling sick will tend to turn to the Web for information, typing things like 'flu symptoms; or 'muscle aches' into Google. The service tracks such queries and charts their ebb and flow, broken down by regions and states."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:42 am

Vote For Your Favorite FBFund Apps, Help Them Win Some Cash

Facebook is in the final stages of selecting five winners of $225,000 FBfund grants and has just put up a Facebook application that lets members vote for their favorite apps out of the 25 finalists. (See my earlier post for details). There is a video for each app, and you can vote once per day.

I took a quick look at the applicants, and the ones that get my vote are BottleRocket (wine recommendation app based on your taste, ratings and preferences), MouseHunt (social game) NewsBrane (personalized news recommendation feed), Pongr (social price comparison app with a mobile component), Teach the People (social education app that just launched). Which is your favorite?

The winners might get additional funding from the FbFund, which is a $10 million fund run by Facebook, Accel, and the Founders Fund.

Here is a list of the 25 finalists:

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

Source: TechCrunch | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:30 am

QOTD [Digital Daily]

QOTD

Google is the answer to the problem we didn’t have. It doesn’t tell you what’s interesting or what’s important.”

– Malcolm Gladwell

Source: All Things Digital | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:03 am

Microsoft Denies Paying Nigerians $400K To Ditch Linux

Da Massive writes "Microsoft has denied paying a Nigerian contractor $400,000 in a bid to retard Linux's movement into the government sector. Media reports alleged that Microsoft had proposed paying that sum to a government contractor under a joint marketing agreement last year, in order to persuade the contractor to replace Linux OS with Windows on thousands of school laptops. Although a joint marketing agreement was drafted to document the best practices for using technology in education, it was never executed, said a Microsoft regional manager for Africa. It became clear, he added, that one customer wanted a Linux OS."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 11 Nov 2008 | 11:54 pm

Loopt Hires Allen & Co. For Financing Or Sale

Loopt is in the news today. In addition to getting a nice surge in iPhone downloads after being featured in an Apple TV commercial, we’ve heard that they’ve hired investment bank Allen & Co. to represent them in a sale or financing transaction.

A sale in this economic environment is extremely unlikely, so we’re guessing they’re looking to add to the $13.3 million they’ve already raised from Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates. The valuation on this round is likely to be north of $250 million, say our sources.

Allen & Co. Managing Director Dave Wehner is the guy pitching the deal, say our sources. He’s tends to get results - representing Bebo in their $850 million sale to AOL, Powerset in their $100 millionish sale to Microsoft, Stubhub in their $310 million sale to eBay and (we believe) Ning in their half billion dollar valuation financing round. Among others.

Disclosure: Loopt offers a TechCrunch branded version of the service here.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 11 Nov 2008 | 11:50 pm

T-Mobile G1 Cheaper to Build Than An iPhone

Based on the looks of the T-Mobile HTC G1, the first phone to run Google's Android operating system, we may all have suspected this. But here's the proof.

The G1 costs about $144 to build compared to Apple iPhone's $160, based on a virtual tear down by research firm iSuppli.

The estimate includes only component and material costs for the G1 and doesn’t account for other expenses such as software, research and development, manufacturing and accessories.

The most costly segment of the G1 is the baseband at $29, or nearly 20% of the total cost. The baseband employs a combination of an ARM11 microprocessor for multimedia applications and an ARM7 core for modem functions, says iSuppli.

Next comes the display at around $20, or 14% of the total. The G1’s display is a 3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with HVGA resolution at 320 x 480 pixels. The phone's 3-megapixel camera represents about 8.5% of the total cost.

Though the G1 user interface is "above industry average," Tina Teng, senior analyst, wireless communications for iSuppli says the phone's industrial design and finish lacks the wow factor of some of its slicker competitors.

The G1 is priced at $180 with a two-year contract compared with $200 for an iPhone.

iSuppli G1 Bill-of-Materials Cost

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 11 Nov 2008 | 11:43 pm

MadeIT Can’t Make It In Invites, Switches To Online Ticketing

MadeIT, a San Francisco-based startup we profiled over a year ago, is leaving the crowded space of event planning and invitation applications and entering the equally-crowded space of online ticketing service providers.

CEO Stephen Weir told me that the reason for the new direction is simply an economical one.

More specifically, he stated that he took a good look at the balance sheet earlier this year and ultimately decided the cost of acquiring a customer for the ‘old’ MadeIT was far too high compared to the projected revenue from selling ads based on their traffic projections, and that Facebook was effectively going to kill the event social networks / invitations service providers one by one anyway. Basically, he painted a pretty dark picture for startups like Evite (Ticketmaster), Eventful, MyPunchbowl, Socializr and a slew of other similar services.

Rather than giving up, Weir and co-founder Jonny Hendriksen decided to rethink the service from scratch and came up with a low-priced solution for helping organizers of small and medium-sized events sell tickets online. MadeIT aims to provide them with a set of tools for end-to-end event management, including publishing, promoting and collecting online payments for events (the latter comes with PayPal and Google Checkout integration). The service doesn’t cost a thing for free events, but MadeIT retains a commission of 2.5% for paid events, with a minimum charge of $0.99 and a maximum of $9.99.

Like many of their competitors, which include Eventbrite, TicketLeap, amiando and Eventbee, they face a chicken-and-egg problem: you need high volumes of events to generate enough, often non-recurring, revenue out of commissions on ticket sales, while the costs of marketing the service to potential customers is relatively high. The company claims to have come up with “innovative customer acquisition strategies” that bring in a lot of qualified leads for them to build a sales model around.

Personally, I applaud the fact that they’re going at it without taking a dime of funding from anyone else but themselves, but time will tell if MadeIT has what it takes to stand out in the crowded space they’ve entered, which is filled with similar startups who have a bit more breathing room thanks to institutional and angel investors.

(Disclosure: I am a partner in a soon-to-launch Belgian ticketing/event startup, and will be facing some of these challenges myself).

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

Source: TechCrunch | 11 Nov 2008 | 11:42 pm

Loopt Jumps Ahead Of Facebook And MySpace On iPhone. Told You.

Facebook and MySpace have great mobile apps. At least, they’re great if you’re satisfied with a subset of the features you get on their normal websites. But they don’t yet take advantage of location/presence features on the iPhone and other platforms. We said this summer that they ignore location at their peril, and we still believe it.

Loopt, one of a handful of location-aware iPhone social networks (and the one we are partnered with), is currently (meaning over the recent period, undefined by Apple) the 20th most popular free iPhone application, and is being downloaded more often than both Facebook and MySpace. Facebook is no. 25, and MySpace is no. 43. This is despite the fact that MySpace and Facebook heavily promote their iPhone apps to their 100 million plus users. Loopt doesn’t have that deep base of existing users to market to. All time, Loopt is the fourth most popular iPhone social networks after Facebook, MySpace and AIM.

But they do have Apple’s support. Last week Apple ran a Loopt iPhone television ad, which is shown above. That resulted in a big part of the surge in downloads, Loopt says.

Loopt won’t say how many iPhone downloads they have, but a source says they have tens of thousands of daily downloads across all their mobile platforms (including iPhone, RIM and other platforms).

Our version of Loopt is here.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 11 Nov 2008 | 11:07 pm

The Gene Is Having an Identity Crisis

gollum123 writes "New large-scale studies of DNA are causing a rethinking of the very nature of genes. A typical gene is no longer conceived of as a single chunk of DNA encoding a single protein. It turns out, for example, that several different proteins may be produced from a single stretch of DNA. Most of the molecules produced from DNA may not even be proteins, but rather RNA. The familiar double helix of DNA no longer has a monopoly on heredity: other molecules clinging to DNA can produce striking differences between two organisms with the same genes — and those molecules can be inherited along with DNA. Scientists have been working on exploring the 98% of the genome not identified as the protein-coding region. One of the biggest of these projects is an effort called the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements, or 'Encode.' And its analysis of only 1% of the genome reveals the genome to be full of genes that are deeply weird, at least by the traditional standard of what a gene is supposed to be and do. The Encode team estimates that the average protein-coding region produces 5.7 different transcripts. Different kinds of cells appear to produce different transcripts from the same gene. And it gets even weirder. Our DNA is studded with millions of proteins and other molecules, which determine which genes can produce transcripts and which cannot. New cells inherit those molecules along with DNA. In other words, heredity can flow through a second channel."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 11 Nov 2008 | 11:06 pm

Del Sur Honored for Water Efficiency

Del Sur (www.delsurliving.com), a smart-growth master-planned community located in the northern part of the City of San Diego, has been honored by an organization of California water leaders for its exemplary water conservation efforts.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Nov 2008 | 11:00 pm

4imprint Donates $46,000 In-Kind to Charities in Third Quarter

Promotional products retailer 4imprint multiplied the momentum of its one by one(R) charitable giving program in the third quarter, awarding a total of $46,000 in in-kind grants to 92 U.S. and Canadian charities.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Nov 2008 | 11:00 pm

Today on Boing Boing Gadgets

Today on Boing Boing Gadgets, we got an eerily prescient look at what an Apple netbook might look like, and laughed along with the Onion at the Windows 7 and Snow Leopard rivalry. A cell phone for the elderly was admired, and the delicious design fubars of the IBM PCjr were applauded after twenty five years. Target introduced some new gift cards with an oddly humanizing digicam built-in. Joel admired a beautifully simple African bottle opener and a LEGO meets Mega-Man stop motion video; meanwhile, Beschizza liked a cool transparent Goldbergian coin bank. There was a heart shaped box made of gears and a genuine Pip Boy for the exploration of the nuclear wastes. Rob told us how to build a wasp sucking machine and the curiously named Mgestyk lets you play videogames with your thumb and forefinger. Also: disabled gamers can play PlayStation with their feet. Also also: the e-waste situation in China is super disturbing. Link

Source: Boing Boing | 11 Nov 2008 | 10:23 pm

Wildlife Threatened By Chinese Diets, Medicine

Image 1: The Antarctic Toothfish is so valuable it is sometimes referred to as "White Gold"; better measures are needed to stop those catching toothfish illegally. Courtesy Stuart Hanchet, NIWA, New ZealandImage 2: Dried plants and animals parts are used in traditional Chinese medicines. In the image are dried lingzhi, snake, turtle plastron, Lou han fruit, and species of ginseng. Courtesy Wikipedia
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Nov 2008 | 10:20 pm

Seagate Acknowledges Problems With 1.5-TB HDD

AnInkle writes "Seagate's 1.5TB Barracuda has been available for a couple months from multiple retailers. But shortly after release, reports of random freezes appeared on several sites. The hang apparently occurs in Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows Vista when streaming video or transferring files at low speeds. After a couple of weeks of silence, Seagate has finally officially acknowledged the problem. In a response to The Tech Report, they say they're investigating the 'issue' affecting 'a small number of Barracuda 7200.11 hard drives.' Acknowledging the 'inconvenience' is a start, but most users expect at least average performance and prompt service from the capacity king of data storage." In a related story, reader Lucas123 plugs a ComputerWorld piece examining the question of Seagate's plans to stay relevant at a time when SSDs increasingly capture OEM mindshare.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 11 Nov 2008 | 10:19 pm

Fish Farms and Solar Energy Can Aid Arid Regions

A new United Nations report released Tuesday says ecotourism, solar energy, and even fish farms can create new jobs in arid regions of developing nations suffering from scarce supplies of water.Data from the U.N.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Self-Portrait of the Artist, Bloodspattered

Self-portrait of the artist, photographer and Boing Boing friend Clayton Cubitt (a.k.a. Siege), spattered in blood, from a series-in-progress: Fugue State. Self-portrait with Blood Splatter, 2008, another image from the series, but with ink, that is mildly NSFW, and Cubitt's portfolio, which includes some (beautiful) NSFW content.

Source: Boing Boing | 11 Nov 2008 | 9:37 pm

Desulfator resurrects dead lead acid batteries?

Mikey Sklar, who lives off the grid with Wendy Tremayne, bought a battery desulfator kit to bring his dead electric vehicle batteries back to life. I hope it works!

I recently ordered a $37 battery desulfator kit. It looks like a pretty simple device that sends pulses to lead acid batteries to help clean the battery plates. There are many success stories on the net about resuscitating essentially "dead" lead acid batteries. Since we have two electric vehicles and live off grid we have a lot of motivation to take care of our batteries. I've seen kits that sell for hundreds of dollars, but this 555 based kit seems to kick out a lot more juice than the fancy ones with wimpy solar panels.

Desulfator

Source: Boing Boing | 11 Nov 2008 | 9:37 pm

Cells Designed To Carry Custom Rucksacks

Image 1: MIT researchers have developed a technique to attach tiny polymer "backpacks" to cells. This immune system cells, a B lymphocyte sports one. The scale bar is 10 micrometers. Image courtesy / American Chemical SocietyImage 2: This T cell also has a polymer backpack. The scale bar is 10 micrometers. Image courtesy / American Chemical Society
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Nov 2008 | 9:22 pm

After banning YouTube, military launches TroopTube (AP)

AP - The U.S. military, with help from Seattle startup Delve Networks, has launched a video-sharing Web site for troops, their families and supporters, a year and a half after restricting access to YouTube and other video sites.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Nov 2008 | 9:10 pm

After Banning YouTube, Military Launches TroopTube

The U.S. military, with Seattle startup Delve Networks, launches a video-sharing website for troops, their families and supporters -- a year and a half after restricting access to YouTube and other video sites.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 11 Nov 2008 | 9:10 pm

iPhone 2.2 Update Coming Nov. 21

A web site claims hearing from an unnamed, "reliable source" that the next major iPhone firmware update is just 10 days away.

The source told iPhone Hellas that iPhone 2.2 will be available for download Nov. 21. Earlier, iPhone Hellas published images purporting to be leaked screenshots revealing new features, including direct podcast downloading, Google Street view, a redesigned Safari browser interface and others.

As always, rumors from an unnamed source should be taken with a grain of salt. But Nov. 21 would be a realistic release date for iPhone 2.2. Apple released iPhone 2.1 on Sept. 12 -- two months and one day after the release if iPhone 2.0. Therefore, it's reasonable to expect a major upgrade very soon.

iPhone OS v2.2 to be released on 21 November! [iPhone Hellas via Gizmodo]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 11 Nov 2008 | 8:53 pm

Parallels 4.0 Runs Windows, Linux Inside Mac OS X (NewsFactor)

NewsFactor - Parallels has unleashed the latest version of its desktop virtualization technology for the Mac, which already enables more than 1.5 million users to run Windows, Linux and other operating systems inside Mac OS X. Called Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, the new platform is designed to perform computing tasks at speeds up to 50 percent faster than earlier versions.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Nov 2008 | 8:53 pm

Lonesome George Thought To Be Infertile

Image Caption: Lonesome George, the last surviving Pinta giant tortoise. Courtesy Wikipedia
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Nov 2008 | 8:15 pm

Drawdio kit

Make has posted a video of a neat new kit from Adafruit called the Drawdio.

Drawdio is an electronic pencil that lets you make music while you draw! It's great project for beginners: An easy kit with instant gratification! Essentially, its a very simple musical synthesizer that uses the conductive properties of pencil graphite to create different sounds. The result is a fun toy that lets you draw musical instruments on any piece of paper.

Shown here is a Drawdio mod called Unruly. How-to Tuesday: Drawdio meets Unruly

Source: Boing Boing | 11 Nov 2008 | 8:10 pm

Small Wonder robot girl TV show

Small Wonder was a TV show in the 1980s that I had (fortunately?) forgotten about. It stars Tiffany Brissette as a robot girl named Vicki (VICI, or Voice Input Child Identicant). Discuss. Small Wonder (YouTube), Small Wonder Home Page (Semi-official) (Thanks, Richard Metzger!)

Source: Boing Boing | 11 Nov 2008 | 8:10 pm

Scientists Welcome New 'Super-Microscope' At Isis

The world's newest "super microscope" at Isis in Oxfordshire will allow scientists to see things 10,000 times thinner than a human hair.The machine is known as a pulsed neutron source.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Nov 2008 | 8:05 pm

Ocean Marine Yacht Club Offers an Affordable Paradise on Sunny Hallandale Beach

Top U.S. developers, FIFIELD COMPANIES, have introduced a new concept to the Southern Florida real estate market - luxury living at prices that reflect today's challenging market.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Nov 2008 | 8:00 pm

PSEG Announces Environmental Education Grant Winners

NEWARK, N.J., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven New Jersey teachers have extra money to help supplement lesson plans with hands-on learning, thanks to grants from PSEG.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 11 Nov 2008 | 8:00 pm

Barbie jewelry by Margaux Lange

Margaux Lange makes jewelry out of Barbie doll parts and sells them on Etsy.

This happy little ring is made of sterling silver with hand hammered detailing and a pink lipstick Barbie doll smile. Features an oxidized finish and hand hammered ring shank. Top part of ring measures approximately 1/2" x 5/8" Artist signature on back.

A fun little reminder, right there on your hand to SMILE and take life a little less seriously!

Barbie Jewelry by Margaux Lange

Source: Boing Boing | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:55 pm

Man's house blows up, companies responsible won't help

Ian Silvestein's house was destroyed three years when the Buncefield Depot in England blew up. The companies that operated the depot -- Total and Chevron -- won't help him.

Literally, nothing has been done to help him with his situation — or anybody for that matter. The local authorities have failed him, the governments have failed him, insurance has failed him, and the companies that operated the facilities — Total and Chevron — have ducked blame entirely. The massive companies made more than £18 billion in cash last year, but can’t help a few people out when a leak in their tanks caused massive and catastrophic damage to dozens of people’s lives.

Man's house blows up, companies responsible won't help (Thanks, Jake!)

Source: Boing Boing | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:49 pm

House Industries gallery show

Spectacular typography and design studio House Industries has a new exhibition of prints, patterns, and sculpture at the Subliminal Projects gallery in Los Angeles. The show, titled Letters and Ligatures, runs until December 8 and can also be viewed online. House Industries posted some snapshots from the opening. Spotted: COOP, Mister Jalopy, Shepard Fairey, and Tim Biskup! Letters and Ligatures (Subliminal Projects), Show opening photos (House Industries) (Thanks, Greg Long!)

Source: Boing Boing | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:42 pm

Doubt Cast on 'Dino Dance Floor'

Tracks at a supposed "dinosaur dance floor" may have been made by erosion.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:21 pm

Video: 60 Minutes tackles exported E-waste

I'm still digesting this piece which ran on CBS this Sunday, but I am only getting around to today. This is deeply upsetting.

It was gloomy and wet when we came back to town the next morning. Lamy had arranged to meet a man who would be able to introduce us to some workers. We drove our small car to an appointed corner, he jumped into the back seat, and we drove off. The worker liaison was a small, wiry fellow in a tan rain slicker. He had scarred, dark skin with handsome features and a wary smile. As we rounded a corner and parked against the edge of a building, he told us that the town authorities had recently warned workers that they would spend 30 days in jail if they spoke with foreign reporters. Lamy explained to me that the workers are migrants from other parts of China. Since they’re not official citizens of this province, they have no right to health care or other protections. "I keep thinking that they are totally vulnerable" she said.

Who Was Following Whom? [CBSNews.com]

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:17 pm

From ABBA to Zebra Flesh With TV Adventurer Bear Grylls

Despite his rough-and-tumble onscreen adventures, the star of the Discovery Channel's popular reality adventure series Man vs. Wild is a mild-mannered family man with a penchant for ABBA and chick flicks.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:10 pm

NASA Looking for Next-Gen Hubble

What will the next great telescope look like? Scientists get out their sketch books.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:05 pm

Italian mafia untouched by global economic crisis: business group (AFP)

AFP - The Italian mafia, the country's organised crime network and biggest enterprise, has not been affected by the global economic crisis, a report by an Italian business association said Tuesday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 11 Nov 2008 | 6:52 pm

Pomegranate NS08: The fake phone that does everything

Introduction

As a promotion to induce tourism, Nova Scotia commissioned these ads for a fake phone, the Pomegranate NS08, a ridiculously full-featured phone to promote "a place that has everything".

It appears the destination site is taking a bit of a drubbing right now, but I've thrown some of the other videos after the jump.

[via The Squid That Laughs via Kevin Rose]

Real-time language translation

Coffee making

And this has nothing to do with the Pomegranate, but it's amusing (and not in English but you'll get the drift).

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 11 Nov 2008 | 6:45 pm

Sprint "Now" widget ad page is momentarily nifty even if you're not using their product

@mathowie said, "When I was a kid, I always thought in the future I'd get paid to look at something like the Sprint Now dashboard"

Intrigued, I looked, and then we discussed in our editor's chat room:

Joel J. oh man surely we can comment somehow on this http://now.sprint.com/widget/ 1:05 PM Rob B. playing pong already Joel J. haha, boing boing is on there [First we'd heard of it – Ed.] god damn it I want to hate this btu I don't it's useless but cool Rob B. This is cooler than it should be. They should let you embed these And customize them. e.g. set the location for the weather widget Joel J. Yeah, but did you se some fo the widgets interact? Marvin B. is Les Savy Fav the default music for everyone or have they tapped into my brainwave cookies Joel J. like the trees into houses thing I don't ahve music I have ambient sound Marvin B. one of the widgets is LSF - Let's Stay Friends fo rme Joel J. neat 1:10 PM Joel J. oh cool the widgets change I LIKE THIS BUT I DON"T WANT TO Marvin B. and actually the YouTube widget is something i just watched the other day, too Joel J. no it loaded les savy fav for me too and I haven't listened to them Marvin B. i'm feeling surveilled ah, good Joel J. Brooklyn-based indie pop? It'll never work. 1:15 PM John B. Wow, that's weird. Joel J. This is one of those times we should just paste the chat into the post, but if we do it we should make sure we say something smugly meta-aware of our intentions. DIVIDE BY ZERO

Marvin then discovered it was the work of the Goodby, Silverstein & Partners agency. One commenter, Gordon Moat, encapsulated my thoughts exactly:

Looks interesting from a design point. Unfortunately, being a longtime Sprint customer, I think that you cannot tart up and gloss over things to sell what a service that is badly in need of improvement.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 11 Nov 2008 | 6:28 pm

New Pyramid Found in Egypt

A new pyramid discovered in Egypt is said to belong to Queen Sesheshet.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Nov 2008 | 6:08 pm

SLIDE SHOW: Best Mars Phoenix Pics

The probe's mission may be over, but its science -- and imagery -- endures.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Nov 2008 | 6:05 pm

Custom PlayStation 3 interface helps disabled man game again

A young man calling himself "KitsuneYume" had this PlayStation 3 interface custom manufactured that allows him to control the vast majority of the buttons and toggles that make gaming possible. An array of widgets, including even a tongue-controlled toggle, were designed by Mark Felling of Gimpgear.us, maker of custom controllers for the disabled like "Sip & Puff Mouth Joysticks" and "Head Tracking Mouse Gaming" systems. (How can you not love a company that has a whole section titled "Pimp Your Wheelchair"?)

My custom one of a kind PS3 controller,I can game again! [BoardsUS.PlayStation.com via Engadget]

Previously • Kenguru: Drive-In Car for Wheelchairs
• Video: Dwarf Shows Off His Tools for Getting Dressed

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 11 Nov 2008 | 5:56 pm

AT&T rebrands the HTC Touch Pro, launches it as Fuze

Right on schedule, AT&T has launched their rebranded version of the HTC Touch Pro, which is known around the AT&T camp as the “Fuze”.

While we haven’t snuggled up with a Fuze just yet, we’ve spent our fair share of time with the Sprint version of the Touch Pro. If you’re looking to rock a QWERTY Windows Mobile device, the Touch Pro’s a solid pick - with the main differences between the AT&T and Sprint handsets being aesthetic variations (well, besides the GSM/CDMA radios inside), we’d wager the Fuze isn’t too bad either.

If you’re not looking for commitments right now, this one’ll set you back $500 large. If you’re down to hang out with AT&T for a couple of years, the price tag drops down to $299 after rebates.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 11 Nov 2008 | 5:41 pm

iSuppli: T-Mobile G1 worth about 144 bucks in parts

Oh, how I love these product tear down price studies, wherein some research company grabs a product, rips it apart piece by piece, and pins a pricetag on each individual component to announce a somewhat shaky cumulative price. With at least a couple of the components in any given device being proprietary, a bit of it is educated guessing. Whether they’re dead on or completely wrong, how would we know? It’s not as if any major company is going to come out and say “Pfft, what? Product X actually costs [amount here] to make, thank you very much.”

Whatever - they tear it down, I just report it. Research firm iSuppli has stripped the T-Mobile G1 down to its naughty bits, and has emerged with a number: $144. That’s $35 bucks less than the subsidized 2-year contract price of $179, and $255 less than the full retail price of $399. While that doesn’t take into account R&D, labor, shipping, nor the money T-Mobile makes on a monthly basis from plans/contracts, I’d imagine that the numbers work out in their favor in the long run.

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 11 Nov 2008 | 5:16 pm

Mgestyk's gesture-based interface lets you play shooters with your own finger gun

Mgestyk's gesture-based interface technology turns the wax-on flick of a wrist into a rotation, the wave of the hands into a scroll and a thumbs up into a press of the Enter key. It's all done with a 3D camera that translates hand movements into commands for any computer application, regardless of the lighting. And if the promotional video is to be believed, it does it very, very well.

I tend to be cynical about motion interfaces: the metaphor of pushing an arrow key or waving a mouse simply seems more straight forward and less elaborate than doing a pantomime routine in front of my computer all day. That said, I find the apparent integration of Mgestyk's technology terribly neat: even if I don't particularly have any interest in doing all my computering this way, I could easily see a future iteration of the Wii going this route and be fine with it.

Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 11 Nov 2008 | 4:37 pm

Search Engine With Roots in Genomics Unlocks Deep Web

A research-focused search engine scours the long tail of the web with similar techniques used in genomics to identify DNA strands.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 11 Nov 2008 | 4:20 pm

iPhone firmware 2.2 coming on November 21st?

After not one, but two rounds of distribution to developers, it looks like v2.2 of the iPhone firmware might be ready for release.

According to information obtained by iPhoneHellas, we’ll have our hands on this oft-discussed and much leaked software update come November 21st - just 10 days from now. The leak didn’t indicate anything new in the firmware that we haven’t already heard about, so anybody still hoping for copy and paste in v2.2 might to just give up - and by “give up”, we mean start nagging louder so we see it in 2.3.

What we’re expecting to see in the final release:

• Rating prompt upon application deletion
• Google Maps: Street view, location sharing, transit information, walking directions
• Auto correction toggle
• Emoji support
• Podcast downloading over WiFi
• App Store layout changes
• Seperate search box added to address bar in Safari

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 11 Nov 2008 | 4:14 pm

Live Nation to Sell Major Label MP3s on Artist Pages

What doesn't Live Nation do? The record label, merchandiser, promoter and venue owner is about to replace Ticketmaster with its own ticketing system. It's not stopping there, either. A mechanism for selling unprotected MP3s is next on the agenda.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 11 Nov 2008 | 4:00 pm

Detroit is Tanking, But Toyota's In Trouble, Too

Toyota could do no wrong for almost two decades, but a sinking economy and some strategic missteps mean the Japanese automaker is in for tough times.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 11 Nov 2008 | 4:00 pm

Missing Lunar Tapes Could Yield New Info

A misplaced tape recorder containing data about dust on the moon is relocated.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Nov 2008 | 3:48 pm

Nokia E63 review units show up before it’s even announced

In a move that’s a bit removed from the standard procedure we’ve come to know from Nokia (and every other mobile company, for that matter), the Nokia E63 has made its first authorized debut by way of review units shipped out from Nokia’s WOM World blogger relations group. That’s right: the device hasn’t even been announced yet, and a few lucky bloggers out there are already pawing at it in the comfort of their own home.

While companies will occasionally send review stuff out a bit early if the device’s shelf date is particularly close to the announcement day, there’s usually an embargo in place to keep us from talking about it until after it’s been formally announced. As long as none of the folks who are posting about this are breaking embargo to do so, it looks like Nokia may be toying with the protocol a bit to shave down some of the more trivial aspects. Sounds good to us!

[Via Symbian Guru, Pic via Rob's Digital Life]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 11 Nov 2008 | 3:40 pm

Undergrad Competition Inspires Vaccine

The Internationally Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition is underway.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Nov 2008 | 3:05 pm

BlackBerry Storm pricing and release date revealed?

If we piece together a couple of Verizon sources, the BlackBerry Storm will launch on November 17, 2008 for $219 with a two-year contract. None of this is of course confirmed through VZW, but it seems to fit the timetable and price point.

Verizon needs to get this BlackBerry out before the holidays as some suits will want to treat themselves to a new CrackBerry as a stocking stuffer. Plus, Verizon does not have a true iPhone killer yet and while the Storm will not slay the king, it’s the closest thing on the market so the price must be close to the iP3G’s $199 entry price.

Once again, none of this is confirmed but Verizon must be close to releasing this BlackBerry. What are they waiting for?

ZDNet - Release date

HoFo via Eng - Price

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 11 Nov 2008 | 1:20 pm

Human Hair Linked to Lizard and Dinosaur Claws

Human hair shaft proteins are linked to lizard and dinosaur claws.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Nov 2008 | 1:05 pm

Mars Phoenix Probe Retires

NASA declares an end to the brief but fruitful Phoenix mission.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 11 Nov 2008 | 1:00 pm

It Makes a Great Alarm Clock: How a Non-Geek Uses an iPod Touch

We live in a rather hermetic world, you and me. The gadget blogger is so drenched in new technology that we forget how these wonderful toys are used in the real world. And you, loyal reader, are obviously far above the norm when it comes to matters of technology.

I was reminded of this when I passed my old iPod Touch onto the Lady a few weeks ago. She's no technophobe. In fact, quite the opposite. She not only gets (and laughs at) nerd jokes, she actually makes them. And after moving onto her second Mac, she's totally at home with such geeky things as setting manual IP addresses and BitTorrent.

So I expected her to be all over the Touch. And she is, but not quite in the ways I expected.

The iPod Makes a Killer Alarm Clock

The Lady has always liked the Touch alarm clock, but I didn't expect it to be her killer app. I suspect it could only be made better if it played music as an alarm, something sadly impossible for the speakerless 1G version. It's easy, hell, it's fun to set the time with the clicky spinning dials, and the snooze function works great. That last, for her, is essential, as the button gets hit around ten times every morning. Bonus Tip: Did you know that the top-mounted sleep button also activates snooze, so you don't even need to open your eyes?

Music, Yes. Earbuds, No

The Lady almost never uses her iPod Touch as an iPod, and the white earbuds remain as tangle free as on the first day. On this, I don't blame her, as I'm the same. I can walk around for hours listening to podcasts but music gives me a headache after a few minutes. That doesn't mean the music part is neglected -- she has her entire library on there. But to listen, it gets hooked up to the stereo (when she isn't streaming music via Airtunes -- I'm so proud!)

Email and Web

As a geek, I'm almost permanently hooked up to the internet, or I try to be. But for the Lady, email and web browsing on the go are less important. For some people, computers are for work, movies and music. Outside of this, there's a desire to switch off the infernal machine and live amongst real people. With the iPod Touch lacking a 3G or even EDGE connection, it's a real pain to access Wi-Fi outside of the house. And if you're at home, why not use the laptop?

The Nerd Difference

The difference between a life long nerd and a normal person can be summed up with this story. I told the Lady that the iPod Touch was the gadget I had dreamed of as a kid (literally). A connected device which can do pretty much anything. A real computer in your pocket, and then some. She stared at me for a moment, and then said, "That's not what I dreamed of when I was small."

See Also:

Hands-On: 1G iPod Touch vs. 2G iPod Touch [Gadget Lab]

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 11 Nov 2008 | 12:08 pm