Source: Gizmodo | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:45 am

The Backstory of the Kaminsky Bug

Ant recommends a Wired piece on the background story of the Kaminsky DNS bug and its (temporary) resolution, decreasing the odds of a successful breach from 1 in 2^16 to 1 in 2^32. We've discussed this uber-hole a number of times. Wired follows the story arc from before Kaminsky's discovery of the bug to his public presentation of it in Las Vegas.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:20 am

Govt. considers 'right of conscience' rule

U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:16 am

Brother helps the environment, intros automatic duplex printing printers

Section: Computers, Desktops, Laptops, Networking, Gadgets / Other, Green, Peripherals, Printers / Scanners

These days, it’s important that companies try to create more eco-friendly/green products to help out the environment.  Every little bit helps.  The two new printers from Brother do just that.  While they do not have a lot of green features, they will automatically print on both sides of the paper using an automatic duplex feature. 

The first printer, the HL-4040CDN replaces the HL-4040CN.  They have pretty much the same features such like 21ppm printing speeds for black and color ink and prints in maximum quality - 2400x600dpi.  The only new feature in this printer is the aforementioned automatic duplex feature.  Even though it doesn’t seem like duplex printing will do a lot, but it will save a lot of paper if you print out a lot of documents.

The last printer they announced was the MFC-9450CDN, which is an all-in-one printer.  This one isn’t set to replace any pre-existing printers, but is bears many similarities to Brother’s MFC-9440CN.  Likewise with the HL-4040CDN, it prints at 21ppm, copies at 17 per minute, and has a maximum quality of 2400x600dpi.  A nice feature present in this printer is the integrated Ethernet port to use over a network with many computers - great for the office.  In addition, if you directly want to print out documents or pictures, you can do so from either a memory stick or a digital camera by connecting it via USB ports.

Unfortunately, these printers cost a lot - the HL-4040CDN sells for $400, and the MFC-9450CDN sells for $650.  The first printer will be available sometime this month, while the other being available in January. 

Via [Electronista]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:07 am

How Comics Can Save Us From Scientific Ignorance

What's the solution to America's crisis in science education? More comic books. In December comes The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA, a remarkably thorough explanation of the science of genetics, from Mendel to Venter, with a strand of social urgency spliced in. "If there was ever a time that we needed a push to make science a priority, it's now," says Howard Zimmerman, the book's editor and, not coincidentally, a former elementary-school science teacher. "Advances in treatments for disease cannot take place in a society that shuns science." Zimmerman works with the New York literary publishing house Hill and Wang, which discovered Elie Weisel and has been creating a new niche for itself as one of the premiere producers of major graphic "nonfiction novels" like the war on terror primer After 9/11 and the bio-comic Ronald Reagan.

Stuff of Life is the first in a series dedicated to the hard sciences. The author is Mark Schultz, a DC Comics veteran and creator of the postapocalyptic classic Xenozoic Tales. The 160-page work, illustrated by Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon (improbably, no genetic relation), covers the regenerative processes of DNA, human migratory patterns, cloned apples, and stem cells. In a rapidly changing field, it's as up-to-date and accurate as possible.

Schultz, like Zimmerman, was attracted by the possibilities of using comics as an educational medium. "It's not prose, and it's not documentary film," Schultz says. "It's kind of its own animal." And the graphic novel market is drawing in different readers than he's accustomed to at DC. "The manga phenomenon," he notes as one example, "is attracting new demographics, like younger women, who weren't picking up on traditional comics."

Not that this is the first time comics have been enlisted for educational purposes. The field goes back to the 1940s, when Will Eisner turned Army instruction manuals into graphic guides for soldiers. Also, there's Larry Gonick's Cartoon Guides of the '80s, with his Cartoon Guide to Genetics being the most obvious precursor here. Stuff of Life builds on Gonick, updating his science and employing a silly yet more effective narrative—alien scientist Bloort 183 presents a PowerPoint on human genetics to his slow-learning leader.

Up next? Possibly evolution. After all, Zimmerman says, "more than half of adult Americans think Earth is about 6,000 years old."

Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am

Conde Nast to shutter teen site Flip.com (CNET)

CNET - Conde Nast is throwing in the towel on Flip.com.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am

Two-in-One Guitar Amp Sounds Like Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix

This miniature music-maker packs quite the sonic punch, and provides easy switching between retro modes.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am

Gallery: New Capitol Hill Visitor Center Welcomes Democracy Nuts

The new Capitol Visitor Center — a 580,000-square-foot complex buried beneath the east side of Capitol Hill — opens its doors on December 2 to as many as 15,000 nation-lovin' pilgrims a day.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am

Tiny Player Packs Features and Dead-Simple Menus

This tidy little 4-GB SanDisk MP3 player records voice and radio, grabs music from your PC and tucks in an FM tuner. Clip it on and go.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am

Most Dangerous Object in the Office: 17-Inch Hand Claws

The blades on this strap-on don't give the satisfying snikt! that Wolverine's adamantium talons do, but here at Wired they still strike fear in the hearts of, well, just about everyone. Three 11.5-inch stainless steel knives protrude from the wearer's skull-bedecked knuckles, ending in needle-sharp points. After you factor in the metal claws protecting the fist, that's a whopping 17 inches of handy weaponry—all for just $39 (available at trueswords.com). Too many people hogging the Gadget Lab's Wii? No problem. Just give us 30 seconds in there with these blades of gory.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am

Tiny Player Packs Features and Dead-Simple Menus

This tidy little 4-GB SanDisk MP3 player records voice and radio, grabs music from your PC and tucks in an FM tuner. Clip it on and go.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am

Dec. 3, 1984: Bhopal, 'Worst Industrial Accident in History'

1984: Poison gas leaks from a Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. It spreads throughout the city, killing thousands of people outright and thousands more subsequently in a disaster often described as the worst industrial accident in history.

Union Carbide chose Bhopal, a city of 900,000 people in the state of Madhya Pradesh, because of its central location and its proximity to a lake and to the country's vast rail system.

The plant opened in 1969 and produced the pesticide carbaryl, which was marketed as Sevin. Ten years later the plant began manufacturing methyl isocyanate, or MIC, a cheaper but more toxic substance used in the making of pesticides.

It was MIC gas that was released when water leaked into one of the storage tanks late on the night of Dec. 2, setting off the disaster. Gas began escaping from Tank 610 around 10:30 p.m. although the main warning siren didn't go off for another two hours.

The first effects were felt almost immediately in the vicinity of the plant. As the gas cloud spread into Bhopal proper, residents were awakened to a blinding, vomiting, lung-searing hell. Panic ensued and hundreds of people died in the chaotic stampede that followed.

An exact death toll has never been established. Union Carbide, not surprisingly, set the toll on the low end at 3,800, while municipal workers claimed to have cleared at least 15,000 bodies in the immediate aftermath of the accident. Thousands have died since and an estimated 50,000 people became invalids or developed chronic respiratory conditions as a result of being poisoned.

Regardless of the numbers, all evidence pointed to Union Carbide and its Indian subsidiary, as well as the Indian government, its partner in the factory, being responsible, mainly through negligence, for what occurred. Despite the extreme volatility and toxicity of the chemicals in use at the factory, safeguards known to be substandard were ignored rather than fixed.

In the subsequent investigations and legal proceedings, it was determined, among other things, that:

• Staffing at the plant had been cut to save money. Workers who complained about codified safety violations were reprimanded, and occasionally fired.

• No plan existed for coping with a disaster of this magnitude.

• Tank alarms that would have alerted personnel to the leak hadn't functioned for at least four years.

• Other backup systems were either not functioning or nonexistent.

• The plant was equipped with a single back-up system, unlike the four-stage system typically found in American plants.

• Tank 610 held 42 tons of MIC, well above the prescribed capacity. (It is believed that 27 tons escaped in the leak.)

• Water sprays designed to dilute escaping gas were poorly installed and proved ineffective.

• Damage known to exist, such as to piping and valves, had not been repaired or replaced because the cost was considered too high. Warnings from U.S. and Indian experts about other shortcomings at the plant were similarly ignored.

The aftermath of the disaster was almost as chaotic. Union Carbide was initially responsive, rushing aid and money to Bhopal. Nevertheless, faced with a $3 billion lawsuit, the company dug in, eventually agreeing to a $470 million settlement, a mere 15 percent of the original claim. In any case, very little money ever reached the victims of the disaster.

Warren Anderson, Union Carbide's CEO, went before Congress in December 1984, pledging his company's renewed commitment to safety, a promise that rang hollow in India (and probably to Congress as well).

Anderson was subsequently charged with manslaughter by Indian prosecutors but managed to evade an international arrest warrant and disappeared. Investigators from Greenpeace, which has kept up an active interest in the case, found Anderson in 2002, alive and well and living comfortably in the Hamptons. The United States has shown no inclination to hand him over to Indian justice, and most of the serious charges against him have been dropped.

Union Carbide, meanwhile, was acquired by the Dow Corporation in 2001, which refused to assume any additional liability for Bhopal, arguing that the debt had already been paid through various court settlements. It did go on to settle another outstanding claim against Union Carbide, this one for $2.2 billion made by asbestos workers in Texas.

A few outstanding legal claims from Bhopal remain to be settled, both in India and the United States, but most of the court wrangling is over.

The victims of the disaster, those who live on, continue dealing with various health problems — including chronic respiratory problems, vision problems and an increased incidence of cancer and birth defects — and an environment that remains contaminated to this day.

Source: Various

Source: Gizmodo | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am

Most Dangerous Object in the Office: 17-Inch Hand Claws

The blades on this strap-on don't give the satisfying snikt! that Wolverine's adamantium talons do, but here at Wired they still strike fear in the hearts of, well, just about everyone. Three 11.5-inch stainless steel knives protrude from the wearer's skull-bedecked knuckles, ending in needle-sharp points. After you factor in the metal claws protecting the fist, that's a whopping 17 inches of handy weaponry—all for just $39 (available at trueswords.com). Too many people hogging the Gadget Lab's Wii? No problem. Just give us 30 seconds in there with these blades of gory.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 3 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am

MySpace Takes Video To Mobile

MySpace has partnered with RipCode to give mobile users access to MySpace videos. The content will be available at MySpace’s mobile site, m.myspace.com, which currently generates around 3 billion monthly page views from 10 million users.

Video will work on the iPhone, T-Mobile G1, BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Storm devices, among others. All user uploaded videos (meaning videos that a user has uploaded, as opposed to all videos uploaded by all users) and most premium content will be available.

The new feature will use RipCode’s on demand video transcoding service. Videos are transcoded only when requested, into whatever combination of codecs, bit rates and resolutions an individual handset requires.

YouTube has offered similar functionality at m.YouTube.com since early this year.

My Videos on MySpace Mobile website

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

Source: TechCrunch | 3 Dec 2008 | 4:59 am

U.N. declares 2009 Year of the Gorilla

Famed conservationist Jane Goodall is calling for an international effort to save gorillas in Africa. It is time for us to pool all of our resources toward saving these magnificent creatures, she said Monday at the launch of the United Nations Year of the Gorilla 2009. U.N.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Dec 2008 | 4:26 am

Tasimelteon may cure jet lag

U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Dec 2008 | 4:22 am

Important Importables Mini: Save money while playing an LCD game

FROM GAMERTELL - Three new electronic banks have been released in Japan by Tomy. Each one has an LCD game built in, and as you save money you either help raise a man, find a date or traverse through a dungeon. MORE »

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

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Source: Gizmodo | 3 Dec 2008 | 3:57 am

Space group wants focus on large asteroids

A U.S.-led group, the Association of Space Explorers, says the international community must develop a coordinated response to the threat of asteroids. The group, which represents 320 individuals from 34 nations who have flown in space, said the asteroid Apophis is to pass close to the Earth in 2036, with a one in 45,000 chance of a collision.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 3 Dec 2008 | 3:55 am

RED revises its announcement, gives RED ONE owners a sweet deal

The big RED announcement from two weeks ago made quite a rumble, and it was only a few days afterwards that Jim Jannard announced things were changing yet again. Well, the revision has arrived. Jim says they’ve taken over “all aspects of electronic design and sensor fabrication,” apparently allowing them to do some stuff to upgrade the specs on a lot of the sensors. They’ve also announced a “reward” for their original customers with RED ONE units, saying they’ll get a really nice deal on a special setup if they want it, including a special sensor and bundled stuff at no extra charge.

Of note is the disclosure of 2K speeds up to 350fps on the larger sensors, 250fps on the smaller, and the pricing of the “complete” Scarlet with a fixed lens at $3750, which is pretty reasonable.

It’s another one of those “huge images stacked on top of each other” announcements so click on through to see everything.

(I’ve re-encoded and split them for your convenience, the JPEG quality is pretty bad though. The originals are at Jim’s post.)
(and thanks for the tip, dude)

Source: CrunchGear | 3 Dec 2008 | 3:33 am

Losing My Software Rights?

vintagepc writes "Having written a piece of software as part of my research employment, I now face (and will later face again, with other software I've developed), the issue of intellectual property rights. The legal department stated that if I was paid by the University to produce the software, the University would own all rights to it. This is supposedly black and white, not a gray area. However, I was hired as a research student, not directly by the University, and also via a research award (NSERC). Furthermore, it turns out that faculty members here, in fact, retain their intellectual rights to any software they write. At this point, I can still back out, since I have not explicitly agreed to the conditions, but this decision must be made soon. So, I turn to the Slashdot community to ask: Are they allowed to completely strip my rights to the software? If anyone has had any similar experiences, then what was the outcome? Additionally, is this a normal action, or do I have some maneuvering room?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 3 Dec 2008 | 3:24 am

Reality TV meets Symphonies and Youtube

Section: Audio, Web, Websites

The idea of Reality TV with music has been around since American Idol where people auditioned to be put into the knock out competition where eventually the top prize was a juicy record contract and a nice cash prize.  This idea has now moved into the Internet domain (no pun intended) with YouTube, who is now taking auditions for their own Symphony Orchestra.

The idea of an organization having it’s own orchestra is nothing new (it all started with the BBC in 1930) but this is a good example of how the world is becoming more globalized and encouraging anyone to have a go.  The idea is that people will film themselves playing parts of the specially selected Symphony (which I will talk about later) to show their talent, as well as one to show their overall personality.

Similar to TV shows, there will be a panel of “experts” as well as public participation although in a different way to usual.  The experts are members of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.  They will select the semi-finalists to ensure that only quality acts get through (to avoid problems experienced in the UK where the public consistently chose the worst dancer in Strictly Come Dancing because he was a likeable person).  The vote will then go to the public to choose the final selection of people for the Orchestra.

The chosen ones will then perform the Internet Symphony No 1 “Eroica” at a concert in New York conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas who is the musical director of the San Francisco Symphony.  The piece has been specially composed by Tan Dun, and does have a fairly oriental feel as well as having quotes form Beethoven and some unusual percussion.

This is a great innovation: incorporating the undoubted history of classical music with the modern world and allowing people to use technology to dictate what will happen.  Combining this new and old will definitely introduce supporters of one to the other, i.e. youngsters interested and wanting to vote will get to experience classical music whilst the opposite is true for some older classical lovers regarding technology.

This really is a great idea and it also demonstrates the great power that websites have and how previously virtual worlds are crossing into reality.  I personally think that this is how technology should be used and that it is constructive to all involved as it uses technology to appeal to a wider audience.  In case you are feeling particularly musical, feel free to upload your audition by January 28th and keep your fingers crossed for the judging on Valentines Day (I doubt that that is a coincidence!)

Source [Guardian]
Read [YouTube Symphony]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 3 Dec 2008 | 3:15 am

Behold the future of zombie killing - the Firearm Mounted Anti Zombie Device

FROM GAMERTELL - An AR15.com forum member has created a new weapon in the fight against zombies - an automatic rifle with a chainsaw attached.  The finished product is similar to a Gears of War lancer. MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 3 Dec 2008 | 2:49 am

Gamertell Review: The iPod Touch as a game system

FROM GAMERTELL - While certainly not a Nintendo DS killer, the iPod Touch does offer some rather decent motion and touchscreen controls.  There are a few small concerns for touch-only games but… MORE »

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 3 Dec 2008 | 2:20 am

Review: SmartParts SPX8WF Wi-Fi digital frame

Short Version: A built-in e-mail address for sending photos directly to the frame and a gorgeous 8-inch screen barely even out the shortcomings of the SmartParts SPX8WF digital photo frame.

Overview and Features

• 8-inch LCD with 800×600 resolution
• Built-in Wi-Fi connection for local file synching, remote e-mailing of photos, and Microsoft Live “FrameIt” compatibility
• Supports CF, SD, MMC, and xD cards and can act as a USB host for portable drives
• MSRP of $149

Good

The SPX8WF took less than a minute to hook up and within about five minutes, I had pulled down some photos that I’d e-mailed directly to the frame and had them cycling through as a slideshow. Each frame has a cryptic four-letter e-mail address to which you send e-mail messages with photos attached. The whole process is painless, especially since almost everyone knows how to e-mail photos as attachments. Sending huge files isn’t a big deal, either, as the frame will automatically shrink them.

The frame itself is built well and would look really nice in just about any room. We’ve had company over a few times since I started testing this frame and everyone’s been startled to see the pictures on the frame suddenly change. They’d all thought it was just a normal photo frame at first – so big points for blending in.

The 8-inch 800×600 screen is bright and colorful. Photos look great; you won’t be disappointed on that front. You’ve also got plenty of different methods for getting your photos displayed on the frame – I actually found that using Microsoft’s FrameIt service worked best for me because it allowed me to pull in my Flickr and Picasa photos as RSS feeds, so anything I uploaded to those photo sites showed up on my frame.

Aside from e-mail and FrameIt, you can also just plug in a memory card filled with photos and they’ll start playing automatically. Aside from photos, the SPX8WF can play low-res videos and standard music files if you really want to use a frame for that stuff.

Bad

While the e-mail feature is nice overall, it falls short as a useful function due to the fact that you have to manually check the frame’s e-mail address in order to pull down new photos. First-time e-mail addresses that send photos to the frame have to initially be authorized, which is good, but once authorized, new photos from familiar addresses won’t just automatically show up in your frame’s slideshows.

On a somewhat related note, you have to pick your pony as far as how you’re going to store all your photos. If you’ve got e-mailed photos, FrameIt photos, and photos on a memory card, you can’t view them all at once in a big, fat, everything slideshow. You can view all the photos that have been e-mailed to you, all the photos you set up in FrameIt, or all the photos on a memory card, but you can’t mix them all together.

I picture giving a gift like this to my parents and telling them to just keep it turned on and wait for new photos to show up. Since the e-mail function can’t do that automatically, anyone who wanted to send them photos would have to use FrameIt, which is all controlled by one Microsoft user’s account. I can’t tell you how badly I wish that e-mail feature was automated so their friends and family could just zip photos off to the frame’s built-in e-mail address.

Finally, there’s no user manual included with the frame. There’s a quick start guide that directs you to a website to download the full manual as a PDF file but the link to said manual says “Coming Soon” – seriously? And the link to download the desktop software is under the “Tutorials” section of the product page. It took me all afternoon to figure out how to set the frame up for use with FrameIt.

Ugly

The user interface works fine and your computer and the frame can communicate over Wi-Fi or via USB but it’s not much to look at and it takes a while for the program to open. It handles drag and drop, which is nice, but it doesn’t do much else.

Also, make sure your photos are some multiple of 800×600 or they’ll show up with black bars on the sides or on the top and bottom of each photos. My Canon DSLR shoots at a slightly widened ratio, so most of my photos have the bars. Regular point and shoot cameras should be okay, though, as long as they’re not set at 16:9.

Recommendation

All the negatives aside, once you figure out the frame and get everything working it makes a nice addition to the living room. If you’re savvy enough to figure out how to add the RSS feeds of your photo sharing accounts, adding future images is a cakewalk. This is not a frame you’d give to an average person and expect them to use any of the cool data-centric features, though. They’d be better off with a frame that just read memory cards. However if you can put up with a little behind-the-scenes wheel-spinning at first, the fit and finish of the SPX8WF and the big, bright screen make it a pretty decent choice as far as full-featured frames go.

SmartParts SPX8WF [SmartPartsProducts.com]

Source: CrunchGear | 3 Dec 2008 | 1:45 am

"FOSS Business Model Broken" — Former OSDL CEO

liraz writes "Stuart Cohen, former CEO of Open Source Development Labs, has written an op-ed on BusinessWeek claiming that the traditional open source business model, which relies solely on support and service revenue streams, is failing to meet the expectations of investors. He discusses the 'great paradox' of the FOSS business model, saying: 'For anyone who hasn't been paying attention to the software industry lately, I have some bad news. The open source business model is broken. Open source code is generally great code, not requiring much support. So open source companies that rely on support and service alone are not long for this world.' Cohen goes on to outline the beginnings of a business model that can work for FOSS going forward."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 3 Dec 2008 | 1:27 am

Hulu Competitor Sling.com Launches Public Beta

Think of the new Sling.com as the cloud destination for all of your Slingbox content.

If you're used to receiving your Slingbox video subscriptions wherever you are around the world, the new video website, opening today, gives you the opportunity to check it out on one more platform: the browser.

Basically, the box will still be doing its regular job of pushing through your favorite video, but instead of just streaming it to your specified hardware (like your PC notebook) via the web, it will actually be available on the web.

Slingbox on the web leads the new site's features. The site also streams free TV episodes, user clips, and full-length movies from over 90 channels and media content providers. In addition, it has a social networking angle and a curatorial feature that includes recommendations of popular videos, staff blogs, and user playlists.

Sling.com also offers content from CBS, which isn't available on other web video competitors. But a one-click stop offering of 60 Minutes is probably not enough to make people stop going to Hulu.com.

For that matter, we have a hard time seeing the immediate benefit of offering the same service in a different platform, especially when the free (non-Slingbox-enabled) video content that's supposed to bring in new users is the same or slightly worse than its main competitor.

To us, it seems like an attempt to keep Slingbox owners from straying to other internet video destinations like Hulu and YouTube, and more importantly, to offer an attractive and free content site to consumers who don't have a Slingbox and might be interested in one. The main Slingbox hardware currently goes for around $180.

It was inevitable that the company that started with hardware made its way fully to the web. The earlier SlingPlayer allows users to check out their favorite channels on their mobile phones, and most recently, the company’s SlingCatcher pushed web video to the TV (SanDisk is doing something similar).

Still, if the original content proves interesting and the website keeps up with Hulu's UI innovations and content hoarding, it could be a strong player in the web video game.

To check out all of the available shows and channels available on the new Sling.com, check the lists here and here.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 3 Dec 2008 | 1:26 am

Another Bogus Yahoo Takeover Story - The WSJ Gets It Wrong

Today’s Wall Street Journal story talking about yet another takeover attempt of Yahoo is incorrect, say our own sources. And unlike The Times’ story over the weekend, which was equally fictitious (and, here’s an interesting fact - both publications are owned by News Corp.), this story had direct consequences in the market.

Today’s story has former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller out pitching private equity funds to raise “$28 billion to $30 billion” to acquire all of Yahoo.

Miller, along with his partner Ross Levinsohn at Velocity Interactive Group, were also center stage in The Times’ story over the weekend.

Our sources say that while Miller and Levinsohn have been talking to Yahoo and Microsoft executives and shareholders for months about Yahoo’s future (and at different times both Miller and Levinsohn have been proposed as Yahoo board members), they have not had any serious discussions with private equity funds about raising capital to take over the company.

The two, along with their other partners at Velocity, have been busy trying to raise a new $300 million fund over the last year anyway. And so far, we understand, they’ve only received commitments for $150 million. So trying to simultaneously raise $30 billion to take over Yahoo seems more than far fetched.

Another reason the story makes no sense - Miller is bound by a non compete agreement with AOL that prohibits him from serving as an employee or board member to certain companies, including Yahoo. In fact, that non compete agreement is the reason Miller couldn’t join Yahoo’s board this last summer. The agreement doesn’t terminate until March, so any near term deal is impossible without AOL’s explicit consent. They wouldn’t give it last summer, and there’s no reason to believe they’d give it now.

Velocity won’t say much about the story, other than to comment that the WSJ made no real effort to contact them for comment before the story was published.

Our sources, combined with basic common sense, tell us the WSJ story is dead wrong. And there were consequences to the story - Yahoo’s stock jumped 11.7% today on the the incorrect news, before settling back down for the day. People lost money, and the SEC should be very interested in whoever was the source for this story.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 3 Dec 2008 | 1:19 am

Motorola announces the MOTOROKR EM35

Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Communications, Cellphones, Mobile

Perhaps Motorola just felt left out of the excitement surrounding the earlier Nokia N97 announcement, or perhaps they just felt they needed to announce something new with the Motorola name on it.  Regardless, they have announced the not-quite-as-exciting MOTOROKR EM35.  Keeping with tradition of the ROKR lineup, the EM35 is a slider style music centric phone.  The EM35 features the MOTOMUSIC player, has built-in dual speakers, virtual stereo surround sound and an FM radio with RDS. 

Additionally, the EM35 also has support for stereo Bluetooth and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.  As for the phone features, they include a 2.2-inch QVGA display, a 3.1-megapixel camera and 110MB of internal memory that can be expanded up to 32GB via the microSD card slot.  Despite the full feature list being included in the announcement, Motorola has kept quiet on the price as well as just which carrier will be offering the EM35.  As for a release date, it is “expected” to be available sometime in Q4 2008, or in other words, pretty soon. 

Read [Motorola]

 

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 3 Dec 2008 | 1:18 am

Intel Gets Ambitious With Flash Memory

Flash memory, so far identified with consumer products, is set to become commonplace in large enterprises.

Intel and Hitachi said they will jointly develop and deliver flash-based solid state drives for servers, workstation and storage systems. The first products are expected to be available in early 2010.

"Intel is already in mass production of 32-nanometer lithography," says Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing for Hitachi. "If you already have that it gives you a big advantage in being able to deliver a lot of flash technology at low cost."

The new solid state drives are intended to complement hard disk drives in business environments and in storage applications where high performance and power efficiency are the main requirements, say the two companies.

The drives will be branded, sold and supported by Hitachi and will use Intel's NAND flash memory technology and manufacturing. Intel and Hitachi jointly developed the controller for the flash memory and future development on the product will be shared by the two companies.

Solid state drives (SSDs), once popular in just consumer products such as ultra light notebooks are slowly spreading into business applications. SSDs are less fragile than hard disk drives and offer high response times but they tend to be also much more expensive than the latter.

"Though it has always been fast enough, this is the first time that SLC (single level cell) flash is actually mature enough in terms of data integrity and endurance for large enterprise customers," says Collins.

Other hardware companies such as Sun Microsystems are also evangelizing SSDs for enterprise users.

Intel and Hitachi are yet to determine pricing on their upcoming flash drives but say it is likely to still cost about eight times that of hard disk drives.

"The primary market for this is financial services," says Collins. "There are systems that process billions of stock transactions a day and need need screaming fast response times but not a lot of capacity. This would work well for them."

Photo: Inside a Solid State Device

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 3 Dec 2008 | 1:05 am

App Store Enables Developer Promo Codes, Still Has Work To Do

Apple’s App Store has finally given developers the ability to release up to 50 promotional codes for their applications, allowing them distribute their apps to press and friends free of charge directly through the App Store.

While the feature may seem like a minor addition to most people, it will be a boon for developers looking to help spread the word about their new applications. Before now, developers looking to share their application with the press or friends would need to include them as part of Apple’s Ad Hoc program, which lets developers test their applications before they are deployed on the App Store. This was inconvenient, as the Ad Hoc program requires the UUID (a unique number tied to each device) of every phone that was participating, which most people don’t know how to find in the first place.

Image from MacRumors

This is a step in the right direction for the app store (as is the introduction of an all-time listing of the most popular apps), but there are a number of features that are still noticeably missing. For one, there’s still no way to effectively try out an app before buying. Many developers have resorted to producing ‘Lite’ version of their apps that lack some functionality, but this is an unrefined solution that just litters the store with multiple copies of nearly identical apps.

Another one of the store’s flaws is the lack of any way for a developer to determine when their application will actually be available. It’s become an accepted fact that applications will lie in App Store purgatory for a few days (or more) before they get approved. But instead of giving developers a day’s notice before these applications go live, Apple simply posts the app whenever it gets around to it. Without the ability to defer the launch to a specified time, developers are unable to set embargo times and pre-brief press.

For more, check out the original report on MacRumors here.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 3 Dec 2008 | 12:55 am

Today on Offworld

Today on Offworld we played I wish I were the Moon, likely the only directly Italo Calvino inspired game you'll see all year, and heard about a number of new games worth getting worked up about: a new Wii music game from Rez/Lumines creators Q Entertainment, a firmer release date for the new Ghostbusters game, and Mama moving from Cooking to the Garden. We also looked at a set of sexy new DIY Game Boy LED hacks, saw an Xbox logo fly over 17th century Hamburg, heard a convincing case for more normality versus heroics in games, watched a pitch perfect Halo 3 parody trailer for the brilliantly retro-futuristic strategy game Multiwinia, looked at the decline and fall of Sonic games, and, uh... made paper dolls while listening to ABBA.

Source: Boing Boing | 3 Dec 2008 | 12:07 am

Review: Nikon Coolpix S60 Looks Good, But It's Touchy

If you watch television or read magazines, you've probably seen Ashton Kutcher swanning around chi-chi Hollywood parties with the Nikon Coolpix S60, a slick new digital camera with an iPhone-like touchscreen. The camera looks hot on the party scene, but as reviewer Michael Lasky discovers, it's a bit disappointing when you try to live with it for awhile:

With its high-gloss metal case and giant 3.5-inch, iPhone-like touchscreen, the Nikon Coolpix S60 just begs to be touched. But your lust will turn to disgust once you get to know this camera's internal quirks. In this case, beauty is only skin deep.

$350 • nikonusa.com
(5 out of 10)

Read the full review: Nikon Coolpix S60 Review

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 3 Dec 2008 | 12:05 am

RIM announces re-launch of Mobile BlackBerry website

Section: Communications, Mobile, Web, Websites

RIM has just announced a re-launching of the mobile BlackBerry web portal.  The newly updated site offers a user-friendly design, which means that users will be able to find what they are looking for with less clicking around.  Additionally, the mobile BlackBerry site is also faster loading.  As always, users will be able to get help regarding their BlackBerry, as well as keep up with the latest in news, weather and much more.  BlackBerry users can check it out by clicking www.mobile.blackberry.com from your BlackBerry browser.  It was noted that the mobile site is not seeing over two million hits per day, and based on that, a newer and faster site should come very welcomed.

Read [Mobile BlackBerry]

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

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Source: Gadgetell | 3 Dec 2008 | 12:02 am

How to Use Neuroscience to Become Your Avatar

Watching video through virtual-reality goggles of a mannequin's body while you look down at your own can trick your brain into believing the mannequin's body is yours. Swedish neuroscientists find that threatening the mannequin's body with a knife caused a physiological response in the person watching the video, indicating they have taken psychological ownership of the other body.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Dec 2008 | 12:01 am

Navigon GPS Unit Looks Pretty, Takes Its Sweet Time

Navigon's latest high-end, dashboard-mounted GPS unit, the 8100T, has some nice features — including a whizzy 3-D display — but also has road-rage-inciting sluggishness.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 3 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am

Navigon GPS Unit Looks Pretty, Takes Its Sweet Time

Navigon's latest high-end, dashboard-mounted GPS unit, the 8100T, has some nice features — including a whizzy 3-D display — but also has road-rage-inciting sluggishness.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 3 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am

Feds to Judge: Don't Second-Guess Bush Domestic Spy Program

A judge in San Francisco federal court hears arguments from the Justice Department and Electronic Frontier Foundation regarding lawsuits against telecoms that cooperated with the Bush administration's once-secret domestic spy program.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Dec 2008 | 11:32 pm

Mad Scientist Brings Back Dead With "Deanimation"

mattnyc99 writes "Esquire is running a a jaw-dropping profile of MacArthur genius Marc Roth in their annual Best and Brightest roundup, detailing how this gonzo DNA scientist (who also figured out how to diagnose lupus correctly) went from watching his infant daughter die to literally reincarnating animals. Inspired by NOVA and funded by DARPA, Roth has developed a serum for major biotech startup Ikaria that successfully accomplished 'suspended animation' — the closest we've ever come to simulating near-death experiences and then coming back to life. From the article: 'We don't know what life is, anyway. Not really. We just know what life does — it burns oxygen. It's a process of combustion. We're all just slow-burning candles, making our way through our allotment of precious O2 until it becomes our toxin, until we burn out, until we get old and die. But we live on 21 percent oxygen, just as we live at 37 degrees. They're related. Decrease the oxygen to 5 percent, we die. But, look, the concentration of oxygen in the blood that runs through our capillaries is only 2 or 3 percent. We're almost dead already! So what if we turn down the candle's need for oxygen? What if we dim the candle so much that we don't even have the energy to die?' " The writer Tom Junod engages in what Hunter Thompson once called "a failed but essentially noble experiment in pure gonzo journalism." If you can suspend your inner critic for a time, it's a fun ride.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Dec 2008 | 11:30 pm

Online Reputation Management Tool myON-ID Nabs Investment From T-Online Venture Fund

Germany-based myON-ID Media has raised an undisclosed seven-figure sum in a second round of funding from T-Online Venture Fund to expand its online reputation management platform. MyON-ID is actually more of a combination between a people search engine and an alert service for keywords mentioned across the web.

I quicky tried out searching my own name on the English version of the search application, and the results were a bit messy to say the least. From what I understand, all the engine does is perform a meta search on services like Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn etc. along with traditional and blog search engines like Technorati. MyON-ID aims to make money from offering a premium version and advertising on the free service.

I’m not so sure what prompted a reputable investor like T-Online Venture Fund and previous backer Nexum to fund such a simple service, unless I’m missing something here. The Munich-based company claims it’s very strong in Germany, and hopes to repeat this success with other localized versions (in English, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Spanish and Turkish).

There are far better tools out there for online reputation tracking and management, in my opinion. One example is Trackur, which offers advanced tools to monitor social media. Other providers off the top of my head include Brandseye, Radian6, Attentio, Buzzcapture and Chatterguard.

The people search engine market on itself is already a crowded one: alternatives include Wink, Spock, Naymz, PeekYou and Pipl.

I have serious doubts if myON-ID has what it takes to compete on an international level.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 2 Dec 2008 | 11:07 pm

AirAsia: "We're rescuing passengers stranded in Bangkok."

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport has just re-opened after having been closed for the past week by antigovernment protesters (read this related NYT story, then this update today). Many foreigners remain stranded in Thailand. Boing Boing reader Sarah Stabile, who works with AirAsia and other airlines, has word for any of our blog's readers who may find themselves or close ones affected:

I have a timely bit of news I thought Boing Boing readers might be interested in... AirAsia is mounting more flights starting Monday until Thursday to ferry its passengers stranded in Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur (KL), Singapore, Macau, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

In a statement, Air Asia said today(Dec 2), it would mount two return flights on the Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Hong Kong and Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Singapore routes, and one return flight each on the Bankok (U-Tapao)-Macau, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Shenzhen, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Chiang Mai, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Phuket, Chiang Mai-Singapore; Chiang Mai-KL, Phuket-Singapore and Phuket-KL routes.

On Dec 3, there will be two return flights Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Hong Kong and Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Singapore; and one return flight Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Macau, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Shenzen, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Chiang Mai, Bangkok (U-Tapao)-Phuket, Chiang Mai-Singapore; Chiang Mai-KL, Phuket-Singapore and Phuket-KL.

On Dec 4 (all Bangkok flights from U-Tapao naval base), there will be two return flights Bangkok-Macau, Bangkok-Hong Kong and Bangkok-Singapore and one return flight Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Phuket, Chiang Mai-Singapore, Chiang-Mai-KL, Phuket-Singapore and Phuket-KL.

Full details can be obtained at www.airasia.com or by calling AirAsia's dedicated hotlines 662-5159999 in Bangkok or 603-86604554 in Malaysia.

Source: Boing Boing | 2 Dec 2008 | 11:00 pm

Study Confirms Mobile Phones Distract Drivers

An anonymous reader notes a Reuters report of a study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, confirming that Mobile phone calls distract drivers far more than even the chattiest passenger, causing drivers to follow too closely and miss exits. California's ban on using a handheld cell phone while driving, which went into effect last summer, is looking less than fully effective. A handful of other states have instituted similar bans, but none has forbidden driving while talking on a cell phone at all. "Using a hands-free device does not make things better and the researchers believe they know why — passengers act as a second set of eyes, shutting up or sometimes even helping when they see the driver needs to make a maneuver."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Dec 2008 | 10:44 pm

Yahoo shares climb on hopes for $30B takeover bid (AP)

AP - Yahoo Inc.'s stock rallied Tuesday on a report that AOL's former chief executive believes he can raise enough money in a worsening recession to buy the struggling Internet company for as much as $30 billion.
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 2 Dec 2008 | 10:32 pm

Live in Russia? Love Windows Mobile 6.1? Friend, does RoverPC have a G7 for you.

So, you’re real keen on that fancypants G1 thing, are you? Hah. RoverPC’s newest device already has, like, seven times more Gs than that.

Fear not, early Android adopters - the similarities between the HTC G1 and the RoverPC G7 stop at the name. This one’s running Windows Mobile 6.1, and packs a 3 megapixel shooter, quad-band GSM, 3G, WiFi, a 624Mhz processor, 128MB of RAM, and 256 megs of internal memory with support for microSD. If you’re looking to slip one of these into your pocket, expect to drop about $615 bucks - plus the cost of a plane ticket to Russia.

[Electronista via Navigadget]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Dec 2008 | 10:19 pm

Distributed, Low-Intensity Botnets

badger.foo writes "We have seen the future of botnets, and it is distributed and low-key. Are sites running free software finally becoming malware targets? It all started with a higher-than-usual number of failed ssh logins at a low-volume site. I think we are seeing the shape of botnets to come, with malware authors doing their early public beta testing during the last few weeks."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

How to Make a DIY Lens Case

Last week, we showed you how to construct a stealth camera bag. Now it's time to add some extra protection by building a unique, snug-fitting foam case for each precious DSLR lens in your collection. Best of all, you can build these small cases using materials left over from our previous DIY camera projects.

Source: Wired Top Stories | 2 Dec 2008 | 9:30 pm

PhoneFusion Brings Visual Voicemail to Android OS

Ever since Apple introduced visual voicemail with the launch of the iPhone, envious customers of competing carriers have requested it as a feature for their own phones.

Thanks to the new version of their visual voice mail application, PhoneFusion looks like it's the first company to take the Android plunge into voicemail efficiency. It might not be enough at this point to compete with the top phone (especially considering the G1's substantial flaws), but it appears to be a good, useful app.

Several companies have also come out with their own versions of the app in the last 15 months. CallWave uses a voicemail widget and texting notifications (similar to GotVoice), and others, like SimulSays and most recently, Verizon, have added them for a small price. Most of them look the same visually, but they are often not as smooth as the iPhone's set-up.

PhoneFusion's app works just like the other visual voicemail apps and comes closest to the iPhone's. You get to judiciously pick through your voicemail on your phone, with some archiving and labeling options. After you sign up from your G1 browser to open up a free account, you can set it to forward any other voicemails in your life (like your work voicemail) and they will all be grouped together in the Googlephone app.

While the first version of the PhoneFusion app was heavily scorned by Androidites as fugly and a slightly better version of a Windows Mobile app, the new Beta version looks much better, with room to grow.

That first version of the app was tested by the guys at Android Apps and they had a hard time receiving their first voice mail routed in to the phone. However, it has apparently worked for most other users. Personally, my concern is still with the design: It would benefit from a larger font and better graphics.

Still, like Charlie has previously suggested, the creation of a successful app for the Google Android mobile system gives us the opportunity to analyze the growth scale of the apps and the companies that make them.

One of the reasons why iPhone apps seem to do so well compared to other ones is that you know the ones that make it through the strict App Store process will work on the iPhone. Cross-phone apps usually don't work as well because coding an app in the same system for completely different hardware (like touchscreens vs. keypads) makes it harder to replicate the user interface every time.

And since the G1 phone is the only Android OS phone at the moment, we can't compare the difference in quality between a single app. Still, simple apps that accurately copy the user experience of a specific iPhone app like PhoneFusion's visual voicemail suggest that Apple won't have all the best apps in the next few years.

Mainly, a formidable open system like the future version of the Android OS will be able to replicate its apps across several mobile systems without losing ground in quality.

It's just another reason why Apple might have to open up its closed system.

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Dec 2008 | 9:27 pm

Sneakerplay, Social Network For Sneaker Heads, Shuts Down

Two years ago, when social networking was all the rage, a lot of dedicated community websites for specific (and often very small) groups of people were launched by entrepreneurs trying to cash in on the hype by carving out a certain niche. The strategy proved successful for some, but for others … not so much. And now that the economic crisis is weighing down on the entire industry, with advertisers cutting their overall budgets and the online spend decreasing rapidly, the wheat is getting separated from the chaff faster than expected.

One niche social network shutting down is Sneakerplay, an online community targeted at people who love their sneakers so much they need their own special place on the net to talk about them and share pictures of their favorite shoes with each other. That was the idea. But guess what? People don’t love their sneakers enough to bond with other people over them on an ongoing basis. At least not enough people to build an actual business around it.

To be perfectly fair, the founders never expected all that much from it either, at least not for long. In the blog post announcing the demise of the service, the founders are quite open about the fact that they lost their focus along the way.

Over time, we’ve realized that we weren’t committing the same amount of energy as we did in the beginning. Our focus has been diverted by other projects that we’re currently working on. We think it’s not fair to you guys to not support Sneakerplay the way it’s meant to be supported. Sneakerplay really needs a new home. We believe in the right hands, Sneakerplay can flourish. It needs someone who can nurture it, build new features, and give it the right attention it needs.

Sneakerplay started on a shoestring budget ($1500) and never attracted any outside financing, so it was always more of a hobby project, although the 3 friends who started the social network did get a nice return on the money they put in (and then some) thanks to sponsorship and support from brands like Adidas, Nike, EA Sports and Microsoft. You can ask yourself what this might mean for other niche social networks: if turning Sneakerplay into something that made more money than it cost wasn’t even sufficient to keep these guys motivated, how many other niche social networks will be closing their doors soon?

As you can read on their blog, the founders are still trying to turn the shutdown into a sale, but that’s rather unlikely since the social network never got any real traction. They are, however, pitching the idea of a sale to MTV and Complex (who operates a competing network dubbed KicksOnFire) so maybe they’ll still be able to flip it.

For now, we’re putting Sneakerplay into the deadpool.

Update: per comment below, Sneakerplay says they’re not shutting down, but in fact they are. Keeping the website online and hoping for a buyer while not actively trying to grow and calling it in fact “a bitter sweet end for us” is effectively the same as discontinuing the social network. Looking at the graph below, it’s no surprise either.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 2 Dec 2008 | 9:27 pm

The Other Side of the Sprint Vs. Cogent Depeering

Swoolley writes "A month back this community discussed the Sprint vs. Cogent depeering. Now a story I wrote for Forbes.com tells the inside story of the fight, based on the lawsuits the two companies filed against each other in Virginia state court. For once, thanks to those suits, the public gets to see the details of a confidential peering agreement between two of the Internet's largest autonomous systems, as well as the circumstances leading up to the depeering. (Which company is in the right? Read the facts and decide for yourself.) While some people have argued that the depeering is reason for more government regulation, the Forbes story makes the case that details of the recent Cogent vs. Sprint fight argue for exactly the opposite: keeping the Internet backbones free of government meddling."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot | 2 Dec 2008 | 9:18 pm

S. Africa Takes Stage at Climate Talks

World leaders get down to business at the annual U.N. climate convention.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 9:15 pm

Disappearing Superconductivity Reappears In 2-D

‘Striped’ material offers more clues to high-temperature superconductivityScientists studying a material that appeared to lose its ability to carry current with no resistance say new measurements reveal that the material is indeed a superconductor — but only in two dimensions. Equally surprising, this new form of 2-D superconductivity emerges at a higher temperature than ordinary 3-D superconductivity in other compositions of the same material. The research, conducted in part at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, will appear in the November 2008 issue of Physical Review B, and is now available online.“Our basic research goal is to understand why and how these materials act as superconductors,” said Brookhaven physicist John Tranquada, who led the research. “The ultimate practical goal would be to use that understanding to develop improved bulk superconductors — ones that operate at temperatures warm enough to make them useful for real-world applications such as high-efficiency power lines.”The basic idea behind superconductivity is that electrons, which ordinarily repel one another because they have like charges, pair up to carry electrical current with no resistance. Conventional metallic superconductors do this at temperatures near absolute zero (0 kelvin or -273 degrees Celsius), requiring costly cooling systems. More recently, scientists have discovered materials that transition to superconductivity at higher temperatures, sparking the hope for future room-temperature devices.Tranquada and his colleagues have been studying a layered material made of lanthanum, barium, copper, and oxygen (LBCO) where the ratio of barium to copper atoms is exactly 1 to 8. At a range of compositions with lower and higher levels of barium, LBCO acts as a “high-temperature” superconductor, with a peak operating temperature of 32 K. But at the mysterious 1:8 ratio, the transition temperature at which superconductivity sets in drops way down toward absolute zero.This material exhibits another interesting property: an unusual pattern of charge and magnetism known as “stripes,” which many theorists have long assumed was incompatible with superconductivity.“For a superconductor, you need charges to be paired and moving coherently to carry a current with no resistance. On the other hand, the ‘stripe’ order suggests the charges are localized in relatively fixed positions,” Tranquada explained. So the presence of alternating stripes of magnetism and charge — which are most apparent in the composition with the 1:8 ratio of barium to copper — seems perfectly consistent with the fact that LBCO’s superconductivity “disappears” at exactly that point.But earlier Brookhaven studies suggest that the stripes do exist in other, superconducting copper oxides, in a way that is more fluid and therefore harder to detect. Now, the latest measurements suggest that a similarly hard-to-detect form of superconductivity occurs in the LBCO 1:8 composition.One of the key measurements, made by Brookhaven physicist Qiang Li, was of electrical resistance parallel to the planes of the layered material and also perpendicular to them. At a particular temperature, Li detected a big drop in resistance when the current was flowing parallel to the layers, but not when it was flowing perpendicular to them.At the same time, Brookhaven physicist Markus Hücker, along with Qiang Li, measured the onset of weak “diamagnetism,” an effect in which magnetic fields are pushed out of the sample. “This is one of the key properties of a superconductor — the Meissner effect,” Tranquada said.Like the drop in resistance, the Meissner effect occurred in only two dimensions, within the planes.“Combining these results with a variety of other measurements, we now propose that there is a subtle form of superconductivity confined within the two-dimensional planes of copper oxide in LBCO 1:8,” Tranquada said.“For some reason,” he continued, “the material is unable to coherently couple that superconductivity between the planes. It’s as if you were in a skyscraper where the elevators don’t work and there aren’t any stairs. You can move within the same floor but you can’t get from one floor to the next. That’s the case for the electron pairs in this material; they can’t move from one layer to the next.”The scientists are particularly intrigued by this new form of 2-D superconductivity because it sets in at an even higher temperature (40 K) than that at which 3-D superconductivity occurs in other forms of LBCO.“The ultimate practical goal is to find or create superconductors that can operate at room temperature, thus eliminating the need for costly cooling systems. So research aimed at understanding the features that enhance superconductivity is an important step toward designing superconductors that work at higher temperatures,” Tranquada said.In addition to Tranquada, Hücker, and Li, co-authors on this study include: Genda Gu, Qian Jie, Jinsheng Wen, Guangyong Xu, Zhijun Xu, and Juan Zhou, all of Brookhaven Lab; Hye Jung Kang of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Rüdiger Klingeler and Natalia Tristan of the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, Dresden, Germany; and Martin von Zimmermann of HASYLAB, Germany. This study was supported by DOE’s Office of Science (Basic Energy Sciences) and by the U.S. Department of Commerce.Earlier studies at Brookhaven Lab had found hints of the unusual superconductivity in LBCO 1:8. These include evidence for an “energy gap” in the material’s electronic spectrum that is ordinarily a telltale sign of superconductivity, even though scientists then believed LBCO 1:8 was not a superconductor. Indeed, these measurements indicate that, in LBCO, the strength of pairing between electrons — a necessary condition for superconductivity — is strongest at the 1:8 composition.“These measurements were among the clues that got us thinking about the possibility of 2-D superconductivity,” Tranquada said.Now, Tranquada and his colleagues have begun thinking about ways to harness that strong electron pairing in LBCO 1:8 to get 3-D, or bulk, superconductivity at the higher temperature.One possible approach would be to combine layers of LBCO 1:8 with another material using thin-film deposition techniques developed at Brookhaven. Very recently Brookhaven scientists have used this technique to introduce an extremely thin area of superconductivity between non-superconducting layers. But a similar approach might be used to facilitate the movement of electron pairs between layers, Tranquada said.---Image 1: John Tranquada and Genda GuImage 2: Stripe order in the copper oxide planes involves both a modulation of the charge density (blue), detectable with x-ray diffraction, and a modulation of the arrangement of magnetic dipole moments (spin directions) on copper atoms (magenta arrows), detectable with neutron diffraction.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 9:15 pm

iPhone Poster Celebrates 10,000 Apps in the App Store

iPhone fanatics and software coders alike are gung-ho about Apple hitting a milestone of 10,000 applications now available through its App Store.

The photo on the right uses exactly 10,000 application icons to compose the image of an iPhone. Pretty neat, and it's in 4,674-by-7,011-pixel resolution on Flickr, so the few of you with wide-format printers can print a poster to show off your iPhone pride (or print a bunch of these and sell them on eBay).

Tap Tap Tap developers John Casasanta and Phill Ryu designed the poster. MacRumors and AppShopper provided the icons.

Apple's App Store exceeded 10,000 applications last week -- a significant achievement, seeing as the store launched in July with about 500 apps available. 148Apps, a site that reviews and tracks new iPhone apps, announced the number and made a tribute page displaying miniature icons of each of the 10,215 apps available. 

Photo: TapTapTap/Flickr (Thanks, Phill!)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Dec 2008 | 9:10 pm

Ship In A Bottle Kit Technique Used On Microchip

Remote controlled with a magnetic field, aggregates of plastic particles on a microchip function like stirrers and pumpsSometimes physicists resort to tried and trusted model-making tricks. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, the University of Stuttgart and the Colorado School of Mines have constructed micromachines using the same trick that model makers use to get ships into a bottle where the masts and rigging of the sailing ship are not erected until it is in the bottle. In the same way, the scientists link the valves, pumps and stirrers of a microlaboratory to create a micro device on a chip. To do this, they introduce colloidal particles - tiny magnetizable plastic spheres - as components into the channels on the chip. A rotating magnetic field is used to link the components into larger aggregates and set them into motion as micromachines. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), December 2, 2008)In the future, biologists and chemists want to avoid using bulky glass flasks, Bunsen burners and magnetic stirrers as far as possible in their experiments. Similarly to microelectronics, where electrons are steered through tiny conducting paths, they intend to perform chemical reactions in microfluidic systems, that is, chambers and channels just a few micrometers in diameter. These "labs on a chip" will then allow DNA sequences or blood samples to be analyzed much more quickly and more efficiently. As they only require tiny amounts of liquids, this approach costs much less than traditional methods, which require larger quantities of materials. These micro analytical systems would also be transportable, because their core parts take up very little space. Paramedics, for example, could analyze blood samples at the site of an accident.Researchers working with Clemens Bechinger who is a Professor at the University of Stuttgart and a Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, and David Marr, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines, have now found a new way to equip these miniaturized laboratories with moving parts and how to drive the tiny machines. They introduce colloidal particles, tiny plastic spheres with a diameter of just about five micrometers, into the channels and cavities on the chip.As the particles contain iron oxide, they group together when they are magnetized by an external magnetic field. The scientists construct the magnetic field with four coils so that the microparticles are literally remote controlled and form diamond shapes or cog wheels. "The shape they assemble into depends crucially on the geometry of the channels," explains Tobias Sawetzki, who a doctoral student is working on the project. The microparticles then remain in this shape as long as the magnetic field is switched on.The geometry also determines the function of the aggregates. By tipping backwards and forwards, a rhombus creates openings and acts like a valve. On the other hand, if it rotates in a chamber with two inflows, it mixes the incoming liquids. The micro stirrer is also driven by a magnetic field that rotates clockwise or anticlockwise parallel to the chip. In the same way, the researchers in Stuttgart roll a cog wheel through a channel with a serrated wall. The cog wheel, which completely shuts the channel off, agitates liquid back and forth and only in combination with two valves, acts like a pump."Compared to other approaches to equipping microlaboratories with moving parts, our ship-in-a-bottle technique has several advantages," says David Marr. Some scientists use pneumatic systems to pump liquids through microchannels, for example. However, this requires each component to be connected with a separate hose to the outside so that it can be supplied with compressed air. This is very complex and limits the integration density on microfluidic devices considerably, i.e. the total number of components on the chip.With the new method, it is possible to accommodate up to 5,000 pumps on one square centimeter. Moreover, the new approach does not rely on elastic materials as are required for pneumatic pumps. "It is much easier to produce suitable chips for applications if they only consist of a single material, silicon, if at all possible," says Clemens Bechinger. As the electrical control components like the mini-coils can be fabricated based on silicon, it would be ideal to make the microchannels from the same material. This would allow for integration of all the components on one chip, as in microelectronics," says Bechinger.Currently the researchers are still using large coils, so that all the components are driven by a single magnetic field and they all move in time with each other. However, this need not be a disadvantage as processes in many applications run in parallel; for example when the pharmaceutical industry searches for a new active ingredient amongst many thousands of substances. Furthermore, the researchers can choose the geometry of the channels so skillfully that different aggregates fulfill completely different functions in the same magnetic field. This means that the Stuttgart physicists’ method offers the option of driving a complex network of individual, standalone components with only one magnetic field.Original work: Tobias Sawetzki, Sabri Rahmouni, Clemens Bechinger, David W.M. Marr - In-Situ Assembly of Linked Geometrically-Coupled Microdevices, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), December 2, 2008---Image Caption: Pumps teaming up and working together: In a magnetic field the microspheres (orange) form diamond shaped valves and a cog wheel. With skilful manipulation of a magnetic field, the wheel rolls through the cavity, and together with the valves pumps a fluid with colloid particles (blue) through the system. Image: Sabri Rahmouni/University of Stuttgart
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 8:47 pm

Pocket Digicam Looks Good, But It's Too Touchy

Nikon's pocket digital camera has an iPhone-like touchscreen, but as a camera, it falls a bit short, despite its respectable 10 megapixels.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 2 Dec 2008 | 8:30 pm

Apple: Our Ads Don't Lie, But You're a Fool if You Believe Them

Apple doesn't want you to believe what it says, even though the company claims it's not lying.

That's the gist of the Cupertino company's legal response to a lawsuit regarding allegedly misleading advertising for the iPhone 3G.

The corporation's nine-page legal document [.pdf] is an answer to a complaint filed by William Gillis, a 70-year-old San Diego resident who alleges that Apple falsely advertised the iPhone 3G by calling it "twice as fast for half the price" compared with the original handset.

Some parts of Apple's 32-point rebuttal say that the company was being truthful. But one paragraph says, in effect, that anyone who believes what the company says in its ads is a fool.

"Plaintiff's claims, and those of the purported class, are barred by the fact that the alleged deceptive statements were such that no reasonable person in Plaintiff's position could have reasonably relied on or misunderstood Apple's statements as claims of fact," Apple said in its answer.

Gillis was one of several dissatisfied iPhone 3G customers who recently filed lawsuits alleging Apple falsely advertised the handset's performance. The lawsuits stem from widespread frustration over the popular smartphone; the complaints vary from frequently dropped calls to sluggish broadband speeds and the inability to stay on 3G before it switches to the slower EDGE network.

Apple has already moved to dismiss some of the iPhone 3G lawsuits filed, but Gillis's remains alive and kicking. Michael Ian Rott, Gillis's attorney, said that out of the five iPhone 3G lawsuits filed, he thinks his client's is the most likely to succeed.

"Ours has the most teeth and the most legs to it," Rott said. "If there was any way that Apple could get out of it, they would have filed a motion to dismiss here, too. Their M.O. has been, 'File motion to dismiss and let's get out of here,' but they haven't done that with ours."

In the past, Apple acknowledged the iPhone 3G's network issues and promised the problems would be addressed with future software updates. Consumers are reporting that the most recent firmware version -- iPhone 2.2 -- appears to be mitigating the issue of frequent dropped calls. However, many still complain about reception problems.

"I keep waiting and hoping for a fix," wrote iPhone customer "BarJohnG," in Apple's support forums. "So far the reception is still lousy. I can't believe that Apple is not fixing this issue but merely trying to mask it and keep the customer confused by showing more bars than there is signal. When you look at the logs it is shocking the number of crashes and problems with the phone and OS."

Though Apple is continuing to hold its ground in U.S. courts, the corporation hasn't been so lucky in the U.K. The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority banned two iPhone 3G advertisements, deeming them misleading for exaggerating the speeds and internet capabilities of the handset.


See also: 

• Lawsuit Alleges AT&T, Apple 'Oversold' iPhone, Strained 3G Network
• Wired.com's iPhone 3G Survey Reveals Network Weaknesses
• Angry iPhone 3G Customer Sues Apple
• Apple: iPhone Update Improves 3G Network Performance
• Video: AT&T Blames iPhone 3G For Network Issues
• Opinion: Firmware Update to Fix iPhone 3G? I Doubt It
• Participate in Wired.com's Global iPhone 3G Study
• What's Wrong With the 3G in iPhone 3G?
• IPhone 3G Users Heated Over Network Issues

Photo: Jeffery Simpson/Flickr

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Dec 2008 | 8:25 pm

Apple: Our Ads Don't Lie, But You're a Fool if You Believe Them

Apple responds to an iPhone 3G lawsuit by saying its ads are not misleading, but consumers shouldn't believe them in the first place.

Source: Wired: Gadgets | 2 Dec 2008 | 8:25 pm

New theory of adiabaticity developed

U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Dec 2008 | 8:24 pm

Confirmed: Oodle To Power Facebook Classifieds

As we speculated last month, Facebook is about to hand over its official classifieds listings to a partner, and that partner is Oodle, we have been able to confirm. An announcement may be made as early as tomorrow.

What is interesting about this deal is that Oodle already powers the classifieds on MySpace. Even though Facebook and MySpace are archrivals, this makes sense because in classifieds scale matters. The more listings and the more people seeing those listings, the better.

Classifieds so far have failed on Facebook because they have not been reengineered to be more social. Oodle should take a look at iList, which tries to make listings go viral by letting friends promote your listings for you.

By becoming the preferred classifieds partner, Oodle’s app would be promoted by Facebook in return for a cut of revenues generated by listing fees and the like. Facebook is also looking for a partner to run a preferred music service.

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

Source: TechCrunch | 2 Dec 2008 | 8:21 pm

Students participate in rocketry challenge

The U.S. space agency says 14 groups of middle and high school students will take part in the 2008-09 Student Launch Initiative rocketry challenge. The event will be held April 15-20 at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:50 pm

Brain Waves Shed Light on Autism

Imaging reveals autistic children may experience delay when processing sounds.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:49 pm

Apple announces Top 10 iPhone App downloads of 2008

With 2008 on the way out and right around 10,000 applications behind them, Apple has released a series of lists outlining which applications scored the most downloads since the App Store’s launch back in July.

The lists are separated by whether the the application is paid or free - first as an overall look, and then by each major category (games, entertainment, utilities, social networking, and music). While the overall top applications should come as no surprise to anybody who takes an occasional glance at the iPhone’s built-in top downloads page, there are a few interesting gems hidden in the categorically separated data.

Top Paid Apps (Overall):

1. Koi Pond
2. Texas Hold’em
3. Moto Chaser
4. Crash Bandicoot: Nitro Kart 3d
5. Super Monkey Ball
6. Cro-Mag Rally
7. Enigmo
8. Pocket Guitar
9. Recorder
10. iBeer

Of everything on that list, I’m really only surprised Super Monkey Ball didn’t rank higher. When the app store launched, it seemed that Super Monkey Ball was the face of iPhone gaming - then again, the fact that it was one of the more expensive games at launch might have hindered sales a bit. Congrats to Pangea Software on the double-win (Enigmo, Cro-Mag Rally). Feel free to buy me a yacht.

Also of note: If you want to make buckets of money as an iPhone developer, make games.

Top 10 Free Downloads (Overall)

1. Pandora Radio
2. Facebook
3. Tap Tap Revenge
4. Shazam
5. Labyrinth Lite Edition
6. Remote
7. Google Earth
8. Lightsaber Unleashed
9. AIM
10. Urbanspoon

Wow - Google Earth only launched on the iPhone 2 months ago, and it has already cracked the Top 10 free downloads?

Top Paid Games:

1. Texas Hold’em
2. Moto Chaser
3. Crash Bandicoot: Nitro Kart 3d
4. Super Monkey Ball
5. Cro-Mag Rally
6. Enigmo
7. Air Hockey
8. Bejeweled 2
9. Flick Bowling
10. Line Rider iRide

Top Free Games:

1. Tap Tap Revenge
2. Labyrinth Lite Edition
3. Sol Free Solitaire
4. iBowl
5. Pac-Man Lite
6. Touch Hockey:FS5
7. Cannon Challenge
8. Audi A4 Driving Challenge
9. Sudoku
10. reMovem

It’s no shocker to see Tap Tap Revenge at the top of the list, as it has a fairly constant level of buzz surrounding it. Sudoku is all the way down at number 9? Is the trend of 2007 (and 1892) finally fading out?

Top Paid Entertainment:

1. Koi Pond
2. iBeer
3. iChalky
4. Face Melter
5. iFish
6. TouchScan
7. What’s on TV?
8. Pocket Piano
9. Sketches
10. OneTap Movies

The fact that “TouchScan”, a 99 cent application that “scans the mind of two people at once and compares the brain waves recorded” by way of a fake on screen fingerprint scanner, made it all the way to #6 hurts my head. A lot.

Top Free Entertainment:

1. Remote
2. Lightsaber Unleashed
3. i.TV
4. BubbleWrap
5. Movies
6. iDoodle 2 lite
7. Showtimes
8. Now Playing
9. Scribble
10. Crazy Pumpkin

If nothing else, this shows how much pull a niche, holiday-themed application can have. “Crazy Pumpkin”, which just puts Jack-o-lantern faces on your iPhone’s screen, managed to get enough swing from a good run of coverage around Halloween to reach the top 10.

Top Paid Utilities:

1. Units (crossroad solutions)
2. A Level
3. Air Mouse
4. Fake Calls
5. Voice Record
6. Clinometer
7. Spell Check
8. Speed Dial
9. FileMagnet
10. iNetwork Speed Test

Top Free Utilities

1. Flashlight
2. myLite Flashlight
3. Say Who - Dialer
4. Units (TheMacBox)
5. Compass Free
6. Alarm Free
7. A Free Level
8. Molecules
9. Speed Test
10. myLighter

Hm - “Units” shows up on both the free and paid Top 10 lists, although they’re two different applications. I wonder if there is any confusion on the buyer’s end here?

Top Paid Social Networking:

1. MobileChat
2. BeejiveIM
3. Quip
4. Rooms - Your Mobile Chat Client
5. Twitterrific Premium
6. Flutter
7. Twittelator Pro
8. mBoxMail
9. Secrets
10. hiCard - Suite

Wow - BeeJiveIM not only broke the Top 10, but lands at #2? I’m not surprised because of the quality of the application - it’s quite good, actually - but because of the price: BeeJiveIM costs 16 bucks. In a market where hoards of people complain about 99 cent apps costing too much, that BeeJive has done so well is a bit of a shocker.

Top Free Social Networking:

1. Facebook
2. AIM
3. Myspace Mobile
4. IM+ Lite
5. Loopt
6. Fring
7. Palringo IM
8. Earthscape
9. Twitterrific
10. Avatar

That Facebook is beating Myspace shouldn’t be too amazing to anybody who has paid any attention over the last year or two.

Top Paid Music:

1. PocketGuitar
2. Drum Kit
3. Ocarina
4. Pianist
5. Band
6. Tuner Internet Radio
7. Beat Maker
8. Guitar Toolkit
9. Harmonica
10. Guitarist

Top Free Music:

1. Pandora Radio
2. Shazam
3. AOL Radio
4. Midomi
5. Mini Piano
6. iheart Radio
7. MixMeister Scratch
8. FlyCast Mobile Radio
9. Last.FM
10. DigiDrummer Lite

Not quite sure what to make of it, but it’s interesting to note: the vast majority (9 out of 10) of the top paid music apps are for making music, while the majority (7 out of 10) of the top free music apps are purposed for listening to music.

[Source: iTunes Link]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:41 pm

YouTube Seeks Online Orchestra

In a search for classical musicians, video sharing Web site YouTube has launched a competition for users who wish to submit videos highlighting their musical talents.  The winners will be flown to New York's Carnegie Hall to perform at a three day classical music summit.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:20 pm

Heart's helical band motion studied

U.S.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:16 pm

Researchers Hope Bad Backs Will Slow Cane Toad Invasion

Researchers believe a bad back might be the only thing that can stop the relentless spread of Australia's poisonous cane toads, which are killing native animals across the nation.So far, Australia's own army couldn't stop the army of nearly 200 million cane toads.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:15 pm

New Program Will Study Seasonal Changes In Wildlife

The Wildlife Society and USA-National Phenology Network Announce New Wildlife Phenology Program A new Wildlife Phenology Program will enlist professional and citizen scientists across the country to monitor and record seasonal wildlife events to help managers understand and respond to climatic and other environmental changes.The Wildlife Society (TWS) and the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) announced the program today as the second phase in the USA-NPN's monitoring efforts; the Plant Phenology Program started in 2007.  The program will be housed at the National Coordinating Office of the USA-NPN, at The University of Arizona in Tucson.Phenology is the study of the seasonal timing of plant and animal life-cycle events such as bird, fish and mammal migration; emergence from hibernation; and the leafing, blooming and fruiting of plants.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Dec 2008 | 7:05 pm

Hitachi, Intel Team Up To Develop SSD

Intel Corp. and Hitachi Ltd.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 6:45 pm

Palm Struggles as Its Smartphone Sales Crumble

Palm, the company that single handedly created the handheld computing market in the mid 1990s, is in trouble--yet again.

In its latest financial update, the company said it expects revenue in the range of $190 million to $195 million for the second quarter, nearly 40% below what some Wall Street analysts had projected.

People have been predicting the company's imminent demise for several years, and so far the company has defied these grim prophecies. But the combination of a recession, increased competition, and a years-long struggle to create a next-generation mobile operating system are now doing serious damage to its top line.

Based on the shortfall, analysts say sales of its $99 Centro smartphone -- the company's only real hit in recent years -- may be eroding faster than expected.

Palm is battling the odds for survival in a weak economic environment. The company faces increasing competition in the smartphones segment from rivals such as BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, Apple, and now HTC thanks to the new Google Android operating system.

Palm has tried to cut back on operating expenses through layoffs and consolidation but it is unclear how much longer it can soldier on. The company's gambit of hiring former Apple executives to revive its design also doesn't seem to be paying off.

Despite the odds stacked against it, Palm executives say they are focused on new products for next year.

"Palm maintains its next-generation Linux software platform is on track to be completed by year-end," said Lawrence Harris, an analyst with brokerage firm CL King & Associates in a research note.

Hardware based on the new platform is expected to be ready sometime in the first half of 2009.

Harris expects the Palm will provide with more details around its new software later this month when the company hosts a conference call to discuss its financial results.

Palm is also working to bring a CDMA version of its Treo Pro phone to market, he says, with either Sprint or Verizon. The Treo Pro is currently being offered in an unlocked version nationwide.

Photo: (existentist/Flickr)

Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 2 Dec 2008 | 6:41 pm

Participants Swap Bodies In Virtual Experiment

Researchers in Sweden were successful in using virtual reality goggles to create the illusion of perceiving the bodies of mannequins and other people as their own.Scientists sought to discover how the brain constructs an internal image of the body.Through a series of simulations using a shop dummy, which was fitted with two CCTV cameras connected to two small screens placed in front of the subjects' eyes.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 6:38 pm

Daryl Hannah Joins Controversial Anti-Whaling Activists

On Tuesday, actress Daryl Hannah joined anti-whaling activists to protest Japan's Antarctic whaling fleet.Hannah previously criticized Greenpeace for opting out of the annual chase, started by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which followed the eight-ship fleet last year, bombarding it with stink bombs and briefly boarding a harpoon vessel.The fleet departs Australia on Wednesday for the Southern Ocean.Hannah will travel part-way on Sea Shepherd flagship Steve Irwin.
Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 2 Dec 2008 | 6:30 pm

Motorola notices the world’s serious lack of music phones, introduces the EM35 ROKR

Apparently not aware of the gigantic countdown timer leading up to Nokia’s N97 announcement earlier this morning, or having forgotten the golden rule of “Lets not all announce crap on the same day (unless it’s for a convention)”, Motorola has announced the EM35 ROKR music phone.

It’s not going to drop jaws at the local geek show-and-tell, but it looks like a decent handset for music fans who aren’t vibing with all that touchscreen jibberjabber going on as of late. It has an FM tuner, dual speakers, stereo bluetooth, CrystalTalk background noise reduction, and the oh-so-crucial 3.5mm headset jack. The onboard memory comes in at a paltry 110mb, but it’s expandable up to 32 gigs by way of microSD. Unfortunately, the lack of 3G (quad-band EDGE only) makes this one a relic before it even hits the shelves. No word yet on who’s getting it nor how much it’ll go for.

[Product Page]

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

Source: MobileCrunch | 2 Dec 2008 | 6:28 pm

Time Warner Cable Projects Dimmer 2009 Outlook

Time Warner Cable Inc's Chief Financial Officer Rob Marcus announced on Monday that the No. 2 U.S. cable provider foresees a dimmer outlook for its subscription services over the course of next year due to the declining U.S. economy.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 6:20 pm

US Court Of Appeals Affirms Qualcomm Ruling

A U.S. federal court on Monday ruled against - yet slightly in favor of - Qualcomm Inc in a lawsuit filed in 2005 against Broadcom Corp.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 6:17 pm

Apple Encourages Mac Users To Employ Anti-Virus Software

Apple is encouraging all Mac users to purchase anti-virus software in order to protect their products while browsing the Web. In November, Apple posted a note to its support site telling customers they should use one or more of three anti-virus software products.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 5:55 pm

Facebook Announces Its Own Site Browser

Facebook has developed a new system that will allow its users to access other websites through its networking portal.The system, called “Connect,” lets users use their Facebook login to access other sites as well as providing feedback about what the user’s friends have been doing on those partner sites.So far, the Discovery Channel, social news site Digg, and video site Hulu are the first to sign up with the Connect feature.First announced in May 2008, Connect is Facebook's response to rivals such as MySpace, who have adopted similar features.Backing the initiatives are software projects that open up the basic interfaces for the social sites, so others can understand how they format data about members' activities.These built-in socializing tools allow MySpace and Facebook users to meet up virtually on websites where they could do things like watching a video on Hulu, for instance, and chat about it all in the same place.The business strategy behind the idea hopes that by making social sites an all-encompassing portal, they will become more attractive to advertisers.Facebook announced it would be cautious about which sites sign up for Connect and it would thoroughly review what those sites would do with data gathered about members.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 5:50 pm

Toothy Sawfish Doomed by Own Design

The same jaws that allow sawfish to survive may be responsible for their decline.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 5:15 pm

Body Swap Illusion Tricks Mind

An experiment provides subjects with the illusion that they exist in a mannequin's body.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 4:02 pm

'Change' judged top word of 2008

Change was the English word used most often in the world's media and on the Internet in 2008, and Barack Obama was the top name, U.S. researchers say. The top phrase in 2008 was financial tsunami, says Paul J.J.
Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 2 Dec 2008 | 3:30 pm

'RoboClam' Anchor Holds Ships Steady

A clam-inspired "smart anchor" burrows through sand and stays put.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 3:15 pm

Dirty Teeth Reveal Ancient Peruvians Ate Well

Thanks to poor dental hygiene, researchers detect what Peruvians ate 9,200 years ago.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 3:10 pm

No Frills Tickets to Space Go on Sale

XCOR Aerospace begins selling $95,000 tickets to space on its two-seater.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 2:10 pm

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Search Begins Anew

Four years after a much-debated ivory-bill sighting, the search goes on.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 2 Dec 2008 | 2:02 pm