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Confirmed: Metal Gear Touch coming to iPhone, iPod TouchFROM GAMERTELL - Konami officially unveils the next Metal Gear game as Metal Gear Touch expected to be released Spring 2009… MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:39 pm RIAA To Stop Prosecuting Individual File Sharersdebatem1 writes "According to the Wall Street Journal, the RIAA has decided to abandon its current tactic of suing individuals for sharing copyrighted music. Ongoing lawsuits will be pursued to completion, but no new ones will be filed. The RIAA is going to try to working with the ISPs to limit file-sharing services and cut off repeated users. This very surprising development apparently comes as a result of public distaste for the campaign." An RIAA spokesman is quoted as saying that the litigation campaign has been "successful in raising the public's awareness that file-sharing is illegal."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:16 pm Foxit takes eBooks to a new low with the eSlick
So far eBook devices chief sticking point is the high price. The $300+ range of the Kindle and Sony Reader turns off all but the most avid gadgetphile, book proprietor. Maybe the $259 eSlick by Foxit will find more success even though it opts for a lower price rather than fancy connectivity or e-ink backlighting. It’s still slim at .4-inches thick and ships with 128MB of internal memory along with a 2GB SD card. The unit can even function as a MP3 player. So wanna-be eBook owner, is the $259 price right? Or does it still need to drop a bit more? Source: Gizmodo | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:47 pm Bike-Powered Christmas Tree In Barcelona
GE might be getting all fancy with its OLED "Holiday Tree", but you still have to plug the thing in. Over in Barcelona, Spain, things are a little greener. Above you see the "tree" in the square of Mercat Santa Catalina, powered by humans. By day the cone looks much like an ugly construction project, but when the sun goes down, passersby are invited to pump the pedals for a few minutes to juice the tree, and the whole thing lights up like a, well, you know. Like a Christmas tree. The scheme is also something of a publicity stunt for Bicing, the cheap point-to-point bike service we covered early last year. The public service provides the bikes that are used in the setup, thankfully anchored so that the usual wobbly oldsters and young yahooos who plague the service are kept out of danger (the kids seem to believe that the bell is needed to make the bikes go). Like the Wizard of Oz, the workings are hidden behind a curtain. One thing we do know -- there is either cheating or batteries involved. I've walked by a few times to see nobody on the bikes, but the lights still blazing. See Also:
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:38 pm Study Finds Hundreds of Stolen Data DumpsSteve writes "SecurityFix reports that a group of researchers from Germany published a study in which they analyzed several hundred so-called 'drop zones,' i.e. anonymous collection points of illicitly collected data stolen with the help of keyloggers. 'Their findings, which drew from stolen data harvested from these drop zones between April and October 2008, were staggering: 33 gigabytes worth of purloined data from more than 170,000 victims. Included in those troves were more than 10,700 online bank account credentials, 149,000 stolen e-mail credentials, 5,682 credit card numbers, and 5,712 sets of eBay credentials. [...] Using figures from Symantec's 2007 study on the prices that these credentials can fetch at e-crime bazaars, the researchers estimate that a single cyber crook using one of these kits could make a tidy daily income. The full report [PDF] contains some more interesting details.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:31 pm KillerStartups Launches Dataopedia, A One-Stop Shop For Information About Websites
It’s actually very useful, even if the idea isn’t exactly new. Like you would use our own Crunchbase for information about companies, Dataopedia gives you a run-down of all the data it can find about a website you provide an URL for (including Crunchbase data, in fact). The web service aggregates data from dozens of sources in combination with a number of public APIs. It’s valuable to have all this information in one place, and it’s plenty: expect data about traffic (from arguably from the poorest source available, Alexa, although there are embedded graphs from Compete and Quantcast too), screenshots, names of people involved, WHOIS information, Google PageRank, multimedia links and embeds, jobs, office locations, and so on. The web service comes with a nice set of features that make it easy for you to fetch data the way you choose. Send a website URL to a custom e-mail address and you’ll receive a reply in HTML format with all the information about that website. Browsing on a smartphone? Dataopedia has mobile versions that can be consulted with most devices. Firefox user? Get the bookmarklet, add a custom searchbox or install the add-on (coming soon). And my personal favorite: send a Twitter message to @dataopedia with a URL and you’ll get a tweet back with a link to the appropriate Dataopedia entry. Dataopedia, you’ve got yourself a fan.
Information provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: Gizmodo | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:51 am Big Music Accepts Reality, Drops Lawsuit Strategy. Next Up: Nasty Notes From Your Cable, Telco Companies [MediaMemo]
Bad news, Internet music, movie and other content “sharers”: The content companies are trading their “sue’em all” strategy for one that leans on Internet Service Providers to help them fight their battles for them. This may ultimately be much more effective. Here’s how it will work, via the WSJ:
The fact that the big labels are going to stop suing people who “share” their music via P2P services is the least interesting development here. That’s just the industry accepting that it lost a battle that ended years ago. In Q3 of this year, the volume of music swapped on via P2P increased 28%, says NPD. More interesting is that Big Music thinks it has finally found an ally in the ISPs, who have traditionally been just fine with letting their subscribers swap all the music they wanted. It’s not clear what incentive they’ve offered to get the ISPs on board. And note that the WSJ doesn’t identify any ISPs who have actually signed on to this strategy. So this still may not be a done deal. But the people who sell you Internet access — whether its the cable guys like Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (TWC), or telcos like Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) — have already shown a general inclination to help content owners fight piracy. Or at least help them fight particular kinds of particularly egregious piracy. They’ve been doing so by trying to limit, in various ways, your ability to swap lots of files with other people. Some of these strategies have been clumsier than others. Last year Comcast tried “throttling” the connections of broadband subscribers using some file-sharing software — a ham-handed approach (particularly the lying about it) that earned them a wrist-slap from the FCC. But other companies have been more upfront about, telling subs that they reserve the right to cut-off file-sharers. A different approach that many are contemplating: Simply charging heavy file-sharers a lot of money. Do the ISPs really care about the sanctity of copyright? Doubtful. But they do care about the cost of moving lots of data around — and those costs are only going to increase as consumers start consuming more and more video over the Web. And at least in the case of Hollywood, they do care about keeping content creators somewhat mollified, since all of the ISPs want to make money by selling, renting, or just offering up Hollywood’s movies and TV shows to subscribers. So I’ve always understood why Comcast was standing up for the likes of Sony’s (SNE) movie studio. But why is Comcast (or its peers) going to start working on behalf of Sony’s music group? I’m all ears. Source: Gizmodo | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:39 am Online Video: How Did BoomTown Leave Out the Trekkies? [BoomTown]
After posting the hot new trailer for the fourth in the cyborg series, “Terminator Salvation,” yesterday, someone pointed out BoomTown was remiss in not including the one for the new “Star Trek” movie. No longer! “Star Trek” is out in May and will look at the early lives of James Tiberius Kirk and his sidekick and Vulcan-phenom Spock, along with the rest of the future crew of the Starship Enterprise. It’s directed by J.J. Abrams and looks really good, with the best opening I have seen in a trailer thus far. Here it is: Source: All Things Digital | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:37 am Simulations May Explain Loss of Beagle 2 Mars Probechrb writes "Researchers at Queensland University have used computer simulations to calculate that the loss of the US$80 million British Beagle 2 Mars probe was due to a bad choice of spin rate during atmospheric entry, resulting in the craft burning up within seconds. The chosen spin rate was calculated by using a bridging function to estimate the transitional forces between the upper and lower atmosphere, while the new research relies on simulation models. Beagle 2 team leader Professor Colin Pillinger has responded saying that the figures are far from conclusive, while another chief Beagle engineer has said 'We still think we got it right.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:17 am European Business Social Network XING Acquires socialmedian (Update: For $7.5 Million)
About 3 weeks ago, we reported on XING CEO Lars Hinrich, who founded the company in 2003 and led it to an IPO three years later at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, stepping down. He still got to announce the news, though:
In the short term, this is mostly about adding business news functionality into the network, and hiring experience and knowledge. But with this acquisition, XING also shows that it’s not about to give LinkedIn and Facebook, both of which are expanding rapidly across the globe, an easy path to dominating social networking for professionals. The Applications Platform division former Jobster CEO Goldberg will be heading is an entirely new business unit and will likely take a page from the application strategy that both LinkedIn and Facebook exhibit. It will basically enable application developers and content providers to connect to the XING platform. Goldberg’s first job will be launching OpenSocial on XING (due this Spring), after which he’ll concentrate on making strategic partnerships with service providers that can bring added value to XING’s member base on a professional level. Publicly listed XING currently boasts nearly 7 million members (up from 4.8 million in 2007), about 510,000 of which are paying about $90 per year for a premium account to get full networking functionality. XING has been cash-flow positive 3 months after the start and boasted seven record-breaking quarters after the IPO, achieving more revenues and earnings in each quarter. Revenues from January to September this year amounted to $32 million, 28% more than in 2007 as a whole. We’re left wondering if the acquisition was settled over Twitter. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, read this. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: TechCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:03 am ItsGoodStuff.com New Online Destination Highlights Must-Have ProductsANNAPOLIS, Md., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- ItsGoodStuff.com recently launched a new website that will alert users about must-have products via daily emails.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am Inventor Designs Software to Fight Identity TheftDALLAS, Dec.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am Scribd Raises $9 Million So You Can Continue To View PDFs Online
Scribd is a site where users upload PDFs and office documents for online viewing and embedding. It has spawned a copycat, Docstoc, which has raised its own round of financing. Issuu is another similar service that recently announced a Series B round in funding of $5 million. We should also note that Google recently added a feature in Gmail that lets you view PDF files inside your browser. You’d think these services wouldn’t be used much, but in fact they do well with search engines, and sites like ours love to embed uploaded documents. Compete shows Scribd at 4 million monthly U.S. visitors. Scribd reports 50,000 documents uploaded daily. Scribd also hired George Consagra, the former COO of Bebo, as President. Legendary venture capitalist Bill Tai of Charles River Ventures will also join the board of Scribd. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: TechCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:48 am GWAVA Provides Credit to Novell BrainShare Attendees for Airline Change FeesSAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- GWAVA today announced that Novell customers that have already purchased airline tickets to attend BrainShare 2009 will be offered a credit to pay for the change fee that manySource: Gizmodo | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:30 am Man wins first case vs China's "human flesh search engine" (Reuters)Reuters - A man who lost his job and was harassed by strangers after his infidelity to his late wife was detailed online has won China's first case against Internet vigilantism, the China Daily said on Friday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:27 am Yahoo Makes Super Strategic Investment In Indian 411 Service
I’m sure Yahoo has great reasons for the investment, but this seems like a bit of a side show. Their core U.S. business is deteriorating. Whatever energy they put into this deal seems like it would have been better spent pondering what they will do about it. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: TechCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:27 am France Tel plans challenged by iPhone deal halt -paper - Reuters
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:05 am Facebook’s Platform: Rebuilding the Plane in Midflight [Voices]By Eric Eldon, Blogger, Venture Beat Facebook’s developer platform was a watershed. It gave outside companies unprecedented access to users of a major social network. But the platform, launched in May, has come under increasing scrutiny. Facebook has continued to change the technology and the rules governing what developers can and can’t do on the site. The issue is whether or not Facebook’s platform, including newly-launched “Facebook Connect,” is stable enough to justify other companies making the effort to use it. Heralded last year as one of the most exciting new areas for investment, the platform has seen its hype diminish, even as it has gradually matured. But third-party applications are doing better than ever, Facebook says–especially apps built to make use of the redesigned interface the company introduced this fall. Source: All Things Digital | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:04 am How Apple Could Survive Without Steve Jobs [Voices]By Justin Scheck and Nick Winfield, Reporters, Wall Street Journal Apple Inc. (AAPL) set off shock waves Tuesday by announcing Steve Jobs will not speak at what the company said would be its final appearance at the Macworld trade show. The news sent the company’s stock downward, and raised questions about whether Mr. Jobs had new health problems or some new products were not ready. But another question is likely to persist after the debate dies down: How well could Apple keep up the pace of new products without its iconic chief executive? Source: All Things Digital | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:03 am Number of Landline-Free Households Up 10 Percent in US [Voices]By David Chartier, Staff Writer, Ars Technica It’s that time of year again, when the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) publishes its biannual study of US consumers’ new penchant for cutting landlines in favor of cell phone service. The latest news echoes the trend we’ve seen from past studies: wireless-only individuals and households are on the rise. This latest study spanned from January to June 2008 and included responses from 30,150 adults and 11,238 children less than 18 years of age from 16,070 households, making for a 19 percent increase in respondents from last fall’s study. Overall, NCHS found nearly a 10 percent increase in wireless-only homes to 17.5 percent—that’s more than one in six households. Approximately 16.1 percent of US adults—or 36 million—live in wireless-only households, while 17 percent (12 million) children live in households with nothing but a cell phone. Source: All Things Digital | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:02 am Steve Jobs Didn’t Make the First Macworld, Either [Voices]By David Bunnell, Founder, MacWorld Magazine, MacWorld Expo Steve Jobs didn’t show up to the first Macworld Expo, which was held in San Francisco in January 1985, one year after the introduction of the Macintosh. He was in the city, but he spent most of his time holed-up at the Union Square Hyatt Hotel with his strikingly beautiful blond girlfriend, whom I only knew as Tina. I know this because Jobs and Tina came to the Macworld magazine dinner party I put together at the Sutter 500 restaurant to celebrate the success of the first expo, and of the first year of the Mac itself. There were about 20 of us at the dinner, including the late, great Chronicle columnist Herb Caen; Will Hearst, then editor and publisher of the competing San Francisco Examiner; John Sculley, CEO of Apple (AAPL); John Warnock, founder of the software company Adobe (ADBE); and Ted Leonsis, the AOL executive, who these days owns the Washington Wizards basketball team and the Washington Capitals hockey team. Source: All Things Digital | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:01 am Rotten Tomatoes Jumps From Web to TV [Voices]By Scott Thill, Contributor, Wired, Listening Post Popular movie reviews and news aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has teamed up with the cross-platform upstarts at Current TV to produce a half-hour hybrid aptly named The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current. In production now with a target air date of early 2009, the program will import the site’s Tomatometer metric and feature crowdsourced lists and opinions, distributing them online and on Al Gore’s cable channel. “These are film reviews for the audience and by the audience,” explained David Neuman, Current’s president of programming, in a press release. “The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current will be as much a collaborative process as Rotten Tomatoes.” Source: All Things Digital | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:00 am Panasonic to Launch Tender Offer for Sanyo (PC World)PC World - Japan's largest consumer electronics company, Panasonic, plans to launch a tender offer for shares of Sanyo Electric with the hope of acquiring a majority stake in its smaller rival, it said Friday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:00 am China says $41 billion to be spent on 3G (Reuters)Reuters - Chinese telecom operators will spend about $41 billion on next generation (3G) mobile networks over the next two years, the government said on Friday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:57 am There Are No Dancing Elves. But Skype’s Got A Video Greeting Card App For The Holidays.Once you’ve dressed up as an elf and danced like crazy with your coworkers it’s hard to get too worked up over a simple video greeting card. But if you are one of the few people left who still send actual dead tree holiday cards (tsk), give this new Skype holiday card thingy a twirl. Email videos out to your friends, embed the festive spirit in your blog like I’ve done below, or just link to it. And if you’re a Facebooker, you can do it all there. Happy Holidays. Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:48 am Mars' carbonates point to watery environment - San Francisco Chronicle
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:42 am Oracle still looks strong despite 2Q earnings dip (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:27 am ComScore: YouTube Now 25 Percent Of All Google Searches
Video search on YouTube accounts for a quarter of all Google search queries in the U.S., according to the latest search engine numbers from comScore. Its monthly qSearch report, which was released on Thursday night, breaks out the number of searches conducted on YouTube. If it were a standalone site, YouTube would be the second largest search engine after Google. More searches are done through YouTube than through Yahoo, which has been the case for the past few months. Christa Quarles, an analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners, writes in a report:
The comScore numbers show healthy growth in core search activity as well (stripping out video search, map search, etc), especially for Google. Plain-vanilla search for Google grew 32.3 percent annually, compared to a 29.6 percent growth rate in October. Perhaps all of that holiday bargain hunting is helping. Google’s core search market share (which does not include YouTube) edged up 0.4 percent from October to 63.5 percent (and up 5.9 percent year-over-year). Yahoo’s market share of core search queries was 20.4 percent (down 0.1 percent from October, and down 2 percent year-over-year) and Microsoft’s was 8.3 percent (down 0.2 percent month-over-month, and down 1.5 percent year-over-year). See the tables below.
Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Source: TechCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:16 am WCC Smart Search & Match Announces Latest Customer in Government Employment - Arbetsförmedlingen in SwedenUTRECHT, The Netherlands, December 19 /PRNewswire/ -- WCC Smart Search & Match, the leading provider of high-performance search and match software, today announced that Arbetsförmedlingen in Sweden (Swedish Public Employment Service) has decided to use ELISE as the backbone of its core businessSource: Gizmodo | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:45 am Fossils Show Dinosaurs As Stay-at-Home Dads - Washington Post
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:22 am Oracle net profit dips slightly (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:13 am Brand Names Take On Generics In PSU ShowdownThe Raindog writes "The power supply is perhaps the most overlooked element of a modern PC, and yet it's the one component that can irreparably damage the rest of a system. The market is littered with generic PSUs that are often much cheaper than name-brand alternatives, but can you trust them? The Tech Report aims to find out in its latest power supply round-up, which compares the performance, efficiency, and noise levels of a collection of reputable PSUs with some budget, no-name competition. As it turns out, any money you save on a generic PSU purchase will likely cost you more in the long run."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:08 am More slide-projector lamps
Last June, I posted about the lamps from Design Heure, which feature a small slide projector that throws a single image on a nearby wall. The company's just launched its new line and there are some lovely pieces in it.
LAMP AND INDOOR PROJECTOR
(Thanks, Herveline!)
Source: Boing Boing | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:06 am Dalek xmas tree Check out this fantastic Dalek Christmas tree, a nightmare of exterminatory, glittery cheer.
My badass Dalek christmas tree
(via io9) Source: Gizmodo | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:35 am Think twice before getting your geek a digital picture frameSection: Gadgets / Other, Green, Household, Lifestyle, Originals
I’m a geek, I fell for it, and am now over the idea of digital picture frames. Let’s look at what these things promise. You can view all of your photos in such a small footprint. Get a Wi-Fi enabled one and you can subscribe to RSS feeds of people’s pictures. Some even allow you to do picture correction right from the frame. Then there’s real life. Let’s assume that the frame works as advertised, there’s a viewing angle question. I had an eStarling frame that had about a 10 degree viewing angle. Unless this thing was directly on my desk facing me, I could not place the frame in a convenient spot. Sometimes it’s nice to turn down the lights to watch a movie. Don’t forget to turn the frame off. Oh, that’s right, they need to be placed near an electrical outlet, so you will probably have another wire to wrangle. If you don’t want to waste electricity during the night, you’ll also have to turn off the frame. This may be one area where technological advances may not be so great. Printed pictures have great viewing angles, are cheap, and don’t crash. You don’t have to “operate” a regular picture and picture frame. If you know a geek and are planning to grab a frame for them, think twice. Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:30 am Giftd: The Portable Virtual Gift Store
Virtual gifts have been fairly popular on social networks like Facebook, which offers a library of hundreds of gifts, most of which sell for a dollar (a few of them are free). But these gifts are generally all tied to the network they were purchased on, which means you can’t display the same giftbox in a different social network or on your blog. Viximo, a startup that offers websites a turn-key solution for virtual goods and gifts, has released a consumer facing site called Giftd that allows users to create virtual giftboxes that can be embedded nearly anywhere on the web. The site offers a store filled with digital gifts, many of which feature full animation, sound effects, and some degree of user-interaction (for example, clicking on the six pack of beer will let you ‘gulp’ down drinks). Gifts are purchased with Giftd credits, which run around $3 for 15 credits, with most gifts costing between 2-5 credits. Gifts are displayed in embeddable Flash widgets, which can be placed in most blogs, homepages (like iGoogle and Netvibes), and social networks including MySpace and Multiply. The big exception: Facebook, because it doesn’t allow for embedded Flash. So will Giftd catch on? The concept of a transportable virtual giftbox isn’t a new one - other startups have developed similar offerings. The real differentiation is in the content, which is where Giftd may excel - its gifts have high production values, which can be attributed to Viximo’s growing community of artists. But even with the high-quality icons, Giftd will still have a hard time competing with the native gift stores that are increasingly common on social networks (Hi5 just launched one, and MySpace has one in the works). Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:28 am Is Branded Content Really That Big? t5m Thinks So
Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: TechCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:25 am WorldTV Bids To Aggregate All Web Video And Put It On Your TV
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:20 am Magma provides glimpse of pastGeologists say an undisturbed chamber of molten rock in Hawaii is offering new insight into the way continental rock is formed. The magma, discovered in 2005 when a geothermal power company drilled a mile and a half deep on one of the islands, is the first contact scientists have had with the molten rock from anywhere other than a volcano, The Washington Post reported Thursday. This is Jurassic Park.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:19 am Yahoo Limits Retention of Search Data - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:05 am Elegant Teapot Lets You See the Leaves Unfold, Infuse the WaterDesigned to age gracefully, this heirloom-quality pot looks like a low-lying modernist sculpture and brews to the exact color depth you want.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am Big City, Brighter Lights: Gotham's New LED Streetlamp PlanAfter half a century of walking their dogs under the same old streetlamps, New Yorkers are ready for a new age of enlightenment. Gotham's own Office for Visual Interaction won an international competition to design a replacement. Its inspiration: LED headlights. "We took the same idea and made it vertical," OVI's Enrique Peiniger says. The new lamppost's 4-to 6-foot head boasts up to 100 LEDs with multiple lenses that can be configured to dial in specific lighting "footprints" of uniform brightness. For New York, the coverage patterns will be tailored for three distinct situations—park, street corner, and mid-block. 
Top: Side View
Bottom: Bottom View How many workers will it take to change the bulbs? A lot fewer. LEDs last twice as long as the current high—pressure sodium bulbs. Oh, and they burn 30 percent less energy. Plus, the fixture's modular design makes it easy to swap out chips as LED technology improves. OVI is putting the finishing touches on its prototypes, and if tests go well next year, the lamps will soon start lighting up the city that never sleeps.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am Elegant Teapot Lets You See the Leaves Unfold, Infuse the WaterDesigned to age gracefully, this heirloom-quality pot looks like a low-lying modernist sculpture and brews to the exact color depth you want.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am Dec. 19, 1974: Altair 8800 Kits Go on Sale1974: The Altair 8800 microcomputer goes on sale. It doesn't offer much, but it's the small start of a big trend toward small things. A small New Mexico company — with the big name of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems and the small name of MITS — manufactured the Altair as a do-it-yourself kit. At its heart was the Intel 8080 microprocessor, with the remarkable capacity of 8 bits, or 1 byte. (Later models used the 8080A.) The kit offered a 256-byte memory, just about enough to contain one sentence of text. The Altair's open, 100-line bus structure evolved into the S-100 standard. Keyboard? Dream on. That was a few years in the future. Input was accomplished through the "Sense Switches" (I/O address 255), eight toggle switches on the left side of the front panel. Display? More dreaming. Output was accomplished through LEDs on the front panel. LEDs, 1974: high tech, kiddo. The Altair 8800 kit sold for just under $400 (about $1,700 in today's money). If you wanted to forgo the case, you could get the kit for under $300. Or you could order the whole deal fully assembled: Old-Computers.com quotes a $595 price. If you wanted to soup the thing up, MITS offered a few peripherals: a video card, a serial card for connecting to a terminal, a 64-KB RAM-expansion card and an 8-inch floppy drive. The floppies stored 300 KB each. Those were the days. MITS founder Ed Roberts got the name Altair from the stellar destination in a Star Trek episode. The idea came from the young daughter of a Popular Electronics magazine editor. Popular Electronics heralded the amazing gadget on its January 1975 cover. Right away, orders started pouring in. News of the Altair 8800 excited Paul Allen and Bill Gates, who wrote the first microcomputer Basic for the 8800 and, within months, went on to found Microsoft together. MITS sold more than 2,000 Altairs by the end of 1975, beyond Roberts' wildest expectations. IMS Associates, which sold the remarkably similar IMSAI 8080 microcomputer, shipped 50 that year. But the Altair inspired more than knockoffs. The Commodore PET, complete with keyboard and monitor, debuted in early 1977. The Apple II came out later that year. MITS sold out to Pertec in 1977. Pertec kept making Altairs through 1978. Microsoft and Intel are still around. You noticed? Source: Various
Source: Wired Top Stories | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:00 am Judge: No order to state to reveal computer sites (AP)AP - A judge declined Thursday to order Arkansas officials to reveal which state computers were used to edit Wikipedia entries about Gov. Mike Beebe, former Gov. Mike Huckabee and another former elected official.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Dec 2008 | 4:53 am Today on Offworld Today on Offworld we saw a special holiday office party installment of James Kochalka's Monster Mii feature, this time including a special Sexy X-mas Game Boy chiptune theme song.
We also found a new retro-futurist Space Invaders landing on Japanese mobile phones, saw the new DSi get a downloadable app to make web-embeddable animations, new official Nintendo business cards featuring your Mii and Wii friend code, and a porcelain Little Sister from BioShock.
Finally, we were tempted to order new custom 3D printed Spore figurines, and took a long look at ngmoco and Hand Circus's long-awaited tilt-sensitive iPhone puzzle/platformer Rolando, and how, against overwhelming commentary otherwise, it's more than people have said it is.Source: Boing Boing | 19 Dec 2008 | 4:49 am Plainclothes allegedly police beat up 12-year-old honor student girl then arrest her 3 weeks laterWho can blame Galveston plainclothes police who thought a 12-year-old girl standing outside her house (flipping the switch on the circuit breaker as her mother has asked her to do) was a prostitute? After all, she was wearing "tight shorts" according to the vigilant officers, and she happened to live only two blocks away from a location where someone had complained that prostitution was taking place.So the three brave officers did the natural thing: they allegedly jumped the girl and beat her up, according to Courthouse News and the Houston Press. As Dymond headed toward the breaker, a blue van drove up and three men jumped out rushing toward her. One of them grabbed her saying, “You’re a prostitute. You’re coming with me.”I guess the silly family expected an apology from the police. Like I said, silly. Instead, here's what happened. Three weeks later, according to the lawsuit, police went to Dymond’s school, where she was an honor student, and arrested her for assaulting a public servant. Griffin says the allegations stem from when Dymond fought back against the three men who were trying to take her from her home. The case went to trial, but the judge declared it a mistrial on the first day, says Griffin. The new trial is set for February.UPDATE: This case was filed on 22nd August 2008, and the alleged attacked occurred in August 2006, according to this court document. Here is the Courthouse News article. Here's the filing in the Texas Southern District Court. I emailed Radley Balko about the apparent age discrepancy that some commentator have brought up. On a couple of social networking pages, the girls says she's 17, which would have made her 15 in 2006, not 12, as the article indicates. Radley says: My guess would be that she exaggerated her age on her profile for those pages (as teen girls will do). This track results page puts her birth year at 1993. If her birthday comes later than August, she'd have been 12 when the incident took place. The vital records file for Galveston country show that Dymond Milburn was 12 years old when the police allegedly beat her. Radley Balko posted an update clearing some misconceptions about the story here.
Prostitution raid on 12-year-old honor student
Source: Boing Boing | 19 Dec 2008 | 4:28 am Gadgets: This is what you should buy Welcome to our tech-buying cheat sheet.
There are no specs and no benchmarks, no rigorous stress-tests or complex comparisons. Just straightforward recommendations, aimed at easing the agony of choice for those who suffer from it. If making a decision only awakens an evil inner imp, who conjures ideal devices comprising the best features of everything you don't choose, this is for you. The "cheap" item indicates quality on a budget. The "best" item represents not extravagance, but excellence that's worth paying for. In the third column lies wonder, weirdness or simply an alternative that deserves mention. 
Asus' 900HA is small, cheap and surprisingly capable. (Just don't get the 900A, the stinker at Best Buy and Target) HP's Mini 1000, when upgraded with HSDPA and the 10.2" infinity display, is something that will have to be clawed from your cold, dead hands. But if you care about battery life, it's no match for Samsung's NC10, which gets nearly 7 hours on a charge. People wanting to install OSX should get the MSI Wind. 
Basic laptops are nearly interchangeable, but Dell's low-end Inspirons are a safe bet. For people wanting power and serious quality, Apple's MacBook Pro is a nearly perfect marriage of beautiful design and high performance. But if you just want something that looks stunning, Voodoo's Envy 133 is the real object of beauty. Just don't expect it to play all the latest games! 
A $30, 9mm-thick handset with a cool e-ink display, Moto's unlocked F3 is ready to take into any cellphone shop for contract-free action. Apple's iPhone 3G is, thanks to its AppStore and fantastic combo of software and hardware, an unstoppable force at $200. LG's Lotus, on Sprint, is about as strange and sexy as you can go without losing a real qwerty keyboard. 
Creative's Zen Pebble is a cute little thing, as cheap as a decent family meal. Apple's iPod Touch is practically a handheld computer—movies, music and games galore. Sony's Rolly is a thing of wonder: if you throw yours away, you'll one day curse yourself for it. 
Need a basic model? Grab whichever clicker Canon or Sony is currently selling for just under $200, and you'll be happy. After Nikon dropped the ball with the so-so P6000, Canon's G10 is the king of point-and-shoots in the $500 ballpark. Casio's EX-F1 is an insane contraption that shoots video at hundreds of frames per second. 
Beginners and bargain hunters will love their Rebel XSis and Nikon D40s for years. Upgrade to the Canon Eos 5D MkII if you want to take the plunge and have giant sacks of cash; the $1,500 Nikon D300 is a mid-range alternative you could start a career with. 
Flip's MinoHD marries the original's idiot-proof simplicity with surprisingly good video. Canon's Vixia range offers the best quality you'll get under a grand. Sanyo's Xacti HD1010 is outright phenomenal for something so tiny. 
Hate phones but like email? Get a Peek. Want something smaller than a netbook but more powerful? Raon's Everun Note is a $700 7-inch pocket PC that whips them all. When you've realized that buying cheap, nasty GPS boxes is a bad idea, Garmin's Nuvi 880's excellent speech recognition is the antidote. Eye-Fi is an SD card that uploads your photos over WiFi. Smart shoppers only buy TVs they've seen in person, but for bleeding-edge cool, Sony's OLED XEL-1 is the king--all 11 inches of it. Still buying desktop PCs? Sony's JS series all-in-one has blu and solid performance, outclassing Apple's aging current-gen iMac and HP's puny Touchsmart. This cheat sheet will be maintained and updated, so tell us your suggestions in the comments for better choices or new categories. Remember, the idea is to make decisions easier. Not items that evince raw superiority, but equipment you'd be happy with for years: stuff where the fidelity trend goes up, even if it doesn't start so high. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Dec 2008 | 4:14 am Leathery Dell XPS 13 shots and Adamo rumors
Engadget's Joshua Topolsky reveals the Dell Studio XPS 13 with glorious high-res art. He also has murmurs about the firm's secret project, Adamo. Apparently the device -- which the company plans to market as the "world's thinnest laptop" -- was slated to be released this month, but has been pushed back till at least February. The Adamo will sport a black and silver color scheme similar to the system you see here, but is "different," and we're told that it's most definitely Dell's play to nab some of that MacBook Air marketshare. The MacBook Air has marketshare? Dell Studio XPS 13 leather-wrapped laptop revealed, Adamo info leaked! Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Dec 2008 | 4:07 am Today on OffworldToday on Offworld we saw a special holiday office party installment of James Kochalka's Monster Mii feature, this time including a special Sexy X-mas Game Boy chiptune theme song.
We also found a new retro-futurist Space Invaders landing on Japanese mobile phones, saw the new DSi get a downloadable app to make web-embeddable animations, new official Nintendo business cards featuring your Mii and Wii friend code, and a porcelain Little Sister from BioShock. Finally, we were tempted to order new custom 3D printed Spore figurines, and took a long look at ngmoco and Hand Circus's long-awaited tilt-sensitive iPhone puzzle/platformer Rolando, and how, against overwhelming commentary otherwise, it's more than people have said it is. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:49 am On The Go? Watch Your Net Worth Plummet Anywhere With Mint For iPhone
But how can you watch every penny during those few moments each day you aren’t sitting in front of your computer watching the stock markets tank? That’s where Mint for the iPhone comes in, which just launched. Check balances on your checking, savings, credit card and loan accounts. Track expenses and budgets. Watch the dismal performance of your 401(k), brokerage and IRA accounts, etc. All of which may be a little much. But Mint will be very helpful in some situations, like alerting you asap if a large transaction is made on your credit card, or the ex husband just cleaned out your bank account. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: TechCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:32 am Free public Wi-Fi on Boston trainsSection: Communications, Broadband Cards, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Transportation
WAAV is using 3G connections, so that ought to be decent enough to get your Internet-fix while you try to ignore the passenger next to you. WAAV is claiming that they can provide “Proportional Bandwidth” to prevent one person from slowing down the entire network. I hope NY adds the same service soon. Read [WAAV] Source: Gizmodo | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:30 am Awesome platformer game lets you jetpack around your real-life drawingsHow unbelievably cool is this? Mightier is an experimental puzzle game where the puzzles in the form of simple gridded-out sheets with objectives and static objects like elevators built-in. You’re supposed to print them out and draw on an actual solution, which is then scanned via webcam and put in the game. What you draw turns into a landscape, and you jetpack your little guy around (you can also draw the guy) to finish the job. Talk about breaking the 4th wall. Unfortunately it’s Windows only and I’m on my Mac lappy right now; anyone care to give it a shot tell us how it goes? It’s free, what have you got to lose? [via TIGsource] Source: CrunchGear | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:27 am GE Makes OLED Christmas Tree, Automates Scary 3D Surveillance Cameras
The research team at General Electric wanted to show off their OLED advancements for the year, so they rolled up the flexible displays to make a Christmas tree.
The GE OLED tree is essentially a 6-inch-by-15-ft. OLED roll-out screen around a base, and it currently doesn’t play any images. Earlier this year, GE Research was among the first groups to design successful 'equipment modules' to mass-manufacture large, flexible OLED screens. According to a team leader, they've also managed to improve upon the efficiency and longevity of the diodes, an important step in their goal to reproduce the tech into large public areas, like lamps and walls. I'm a sucker for OLEDs, but a recent development in their security division managed to steal their thunder for a beat. Not surprising since it deals with surveillance and the prevention of nuclear proliferation. In seeking to improve webcam monitoring, GE researchers built an automated algorithm that tracks a person in 3D. It determines speed and direction with precision without forcing webcam operators to zoom in on jittery video, like they do now.Check out the video of the test right here. The algorithm controls a network of cameras and determines the best position for capturing. The angle of the face and the distance of the subject from the camera are some of the measurable data points.
But according to GE, the team is also using this algorithm for a far more serious application. Cameras are expected to be used soon with a Compton imager to detect radiation from a distance. The project's name is called Target Linked Radiation Imager (TLRI) and is expected to be used by Homeland Security to find 'location of targets of interest,' or rather, dangerous radioactive material. There aren't too many details about this project, with reason, but it's scary to know a simple cam that might simply show a kid skipping down the street might one day soon be powerful enough to see through shielded uranium. Photos: GE Global Research
Source: Gizmodo | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:00 am Majel Roddenberry Dies At 76unassimilatible writes "If there was ever a sad day for nerds, it's today, as Majel Barrett-Rodenberry has passed away. The widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry is best remembered as the gorgeous Nurse Christine Chapel from the original series, the pesky and officious Lwaxana Troi from The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and of course the ubiquitous voice of Star Trek computers in movies, TV, and animated films (who hasn't used her voice as a system sound on their PC?). Majel also attended Star Trek conventions yearly and was a producer of Andromeda. Fortunately, Majel just finished her voice over work for the computers in J.J. Abrams' latest Trek movie. I have to admit, this made me sad, just having caught up on the entire TNG and DS9 series on DVD."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 19 Dec 2008 | 2:57 am Li-ion battery makers appeal to Congress for $1bn in aid
After all, in five years, what use will having an American auto business be if they have to buy all their most important parts from China? There are four dozen next-gen battery manufactories being built there right now, and zero here in the States. The group of companies, including the likes of 3M, hopes to avoid total Asian dominance of a field upon which the existence of perhaps an entire industry is staked. Source: CrunchGear | 19 Dec 2008 | 2:40 am Apple review - iMuffs MB210 Wireless HeadphonesFROM APPLETELL - The iMuffs MB210 Wireless Headphones for iPod and bluetooth phones do a great job with the wireless portion of their functionality. But how do they sound? And are the comfortable? MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 19 Dec 2008 | 2:32 am NeXT Computer unboxing, twenty years later
Peter Urban at Smibs managed to find a rare NeXT Computer on eBay, and paid $400 to obtain the machine which was originally sold for $6,500. He unboxes it in the video below. NeXT is the company Steve Jobs founded after he was booted from Apple in 1985. They originally made these extremely high end, high priced computers, but eventually moved to an all-software model. It’s a historical device. Tim Berners-Lee used a NeXT Computer in 1991 to create the first web browser and web server, and John Carmack used a NeXTcube to build Wolfenstein 3D and the original Doom. NeXt was eventually acquired by Apple in 1996 for $429 million. That brought Jobs back to Apple, and because of that I get to have an iPhone. Cool stuff. Source: CrunchGear | 19 Dec 2008 | 2:26 am The hills have lotion?
Now I find this to be a little bit frightening. Does the lotion make you glow? More importantly, is there a limit to the level the lotion warms to? Will the heat increase the more you rub it? If so, this product should probably be kept away from high school aged males. [via The Register] Source: CrunchGear | 19 Dec 2008 | 2:23 am DHS wants green card holders' fingerprints (CNET)CNET - Millions of green card holders will be fingerprinted and photographed every time they enter the United States as part of an expansion of a controversial biometric program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Thursday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:50 am Japanese prefecture to ban cell phones in schools
Various reasons are cited, including studies linking cell phone with cancer, and social problems such as pervasive bullying on mobile social networks. To be honest, I’d like to see the policy implemented here in the States as well. Of course, if we had everything my way, we’d all be assigned a personal Pegasus at birth. [via Treehugger] Source: CrunchGear | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:40 am Microsoft Surface gets unboxedSection: Computers, Hardware, Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous
Sure we all love to see a nice unboxing, getting to live vicariously through someone else. However, it is not everyday that we get to see an unboxing of a Microsoft Surface. Given the $13,500 price tag, it does not seem likely that these will become commonplace. In the meantime, we have this nice set of photos to enjoy, which according to the images, appear to be from the Darien Library in Darien Connecticut, and the images are courtesy of jblyberg’s Flickr page. I can only hope that they have as much fun playing around as I did when I got to visit the Surface team a few months back. These images are pretty interesting, you can see that underneath the fancy Surface exterior it is running Windows Vista, not to mention jblyberg has also included a nice shot of an input panel. Something I cannot remember seeing on any of the units that were on display around the Surface headquarters. Images [Flickr] Via [GottaBeMobile]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:38 am Japanese prefecture to ban cell phones in schools
Various reasons are cited, including studies linking cell phone with cancer, and social problems such as pervasive bullying on mobile social networks. To be honest, I’d like to see the policy implemented here in the States as well. Of course, if we had everything my way, we’d all be assigned a personal Pegasus at birth. [via Treehugger] Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: MobileCrunch | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:37 am How you like them Apples?
A Japanese Apple fan with a Fuji orchard decided to grow some Apple Apples by placing a sticker on the skin as it matured. The results, as we see, look delicious and significantly more edible than an iPod crumble. Source: CrunchGear | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:18 am Parrot iPod Speakers Would Make Steve Jobs Proud
Parrot, which is better known for its wireless headsets, has collaborated with designer Philippe Starck to create wireless tower-style floor speakers that looks pretty sleek. It's not just all outer beauty, says the company. The speakers are feature-packed. The 2.5-feet tall speakers called 'Zikmu' have the usual--a docking station that charges the iPod and a remote control. But wait.. there's more. The two speakers communicate with each other using Bluetooth and any be positioned anywhere in the room. It also is Wi-Fi enabled so users can stream music directly from a PC or music stored on a mobile. The speakers, which offer 100W RMS total power output, is expected to be available for Spring 2009. At $1500, though, it's no steal.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:50 am Highway signs are huge
The South Central Sign Shop in Union Gap, Washington, part of WSDOT, the Washington State Department of Transportation, has a Flickr stream. Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:40 am Alms for Palm? [Digital Daily]
Palm’s (PALM) flaccid second-quarter performance comes in stark contrast to that of Research In Motion, which beat estimates for its fiscal third quarter and offered up a stronger-than-anticipated forecast for its fourth. [Image Credit: Steve Isaacs] Source: All Things Digital | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:33 am Will your netbook handle OS X? This compatibility chart should helpSection: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops, Software / Applications
If you have read any of my previous posts, it should come as little surprise that I am a big fan of netbooks, however given our sister site Appletell does such a great job with the Mac coverage, I do not often get to cover another favorite of mine—OS X. So with that, it is safe to assume that I would be more than willing to pick up an official Apple netbook, should one be announced. Until then, I plan to hold off running OS X on a netbook, despite how tempting it is. Of course if you are not as willing to wait as I am, then a new compatibility chart should help you out when it comes to choosing a netbook to work with. Short story, if you are considering going this route then you may want to pick up an MSI Wind, Dell Inspiron Mini 9 or an HP Mini-Note 2133. Other models do and will work, but each will be missing some functionality. Surprisingly one of the more popular models, the Eee PC 9xx and 1000 series lack support for both audio and ethernet. Keep in mind, that while there are how-to’s available, if you choose to pursue the hackintosh netbook you will not be entirely following the rules. That said, should you choose to proceed, please share your comments and let us know your experience. Read [Boing Boing]
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:22 am Stain of Shame: Cell Phone Lands in Plane's Toilet
Well, yes, but the unfortunate consequence following his blunder is the stuff of workplace nightmares and has now led to nationwide infamy. This is what happened: On his way to a business meeting, Mr. Toledo dropped the phone in the aforementioned receptacle, but retrieved it from the flushing blue swirl and cleaned it up. Getting to his appointment was foremost on his mind and was using it to communicate with his employers, so he "had no choice" but to keep using it, teaching us all a lesson to pay attention to details. Upon arriving at the Denver airport, he called his wife and headed straight to the meeting, without checking his appearance. When he arrived, he was immediately told that he had a large blue-streak across his face. The disinfectant in the toilet bowl, which often contains borax, a type of bleach (sodium percarbonate), and blu-coloring, had seeped within the phone. Oof. According to NPR and many retailers, an inordinate number of cell phone destruction stories are toilet-related. Earlier, a man aboard a train in France lost his cell phone inside the toilet, and because he was scared to lose his main communication device, went right after it and ended up with his arm stuck for hours. Eventually, paramedics stopped the train and dislodged the toilet to get him out. Also, returns for cell phone water damage are a common occurrence, toilet-induced or not. Among the reasons are washing machine disasters, dog chewing, random pool submerging, and even beer dunking. It speaks to the ubiquity of the cell phone that this occurs with such regularity -- almost 300 million cell phones are now used in the country, almost one for every American. As Yuki Noguchi notes in her NPR toilet piece, as more people use their phones for more important business communications, more of them are being insured. Sadly, though, toilet accidents are not covered by insurance. The companies regard accidental toilet dumping as a "negligent" activity. Has this ever happened to you? If so, let me know in the comments or send me an email at jferm80@gmail.com and tell me how it happened, how you attempted to clean it and I'll create fun How-To to go with the stories. Gadget Lab 2.0: Jose Fermoso's Twitter feed; Gadget Lab on Facebook.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:17 am Hot-selling BlackBerry Storm Back in Stock in Select Verizon Wireless Stores Friday - First Time Since November 21st LaunchIRVINE, Calif., Dec.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:10 am Fabulous Harvey Kurtzman collection
Joey Anuff tells the story of how he came into possession of a giant treasure trove of Harvey Kurtzman original art. (Kurtzman is best known as the founder of Mad and creator of the Little Annie Fanny comic strip that ran in Playboy.) Here's an excerpt: Take a look at the scan gallery I've assembled below and you'll get a sense of what Denis showed us: the virgin files of the Harvey Kurtzman Estate. A publisher's estate spanning three publications -- Trump, Humbug, and Help! -- and an artist's estate rich in work from the least-familiar, most mature decade of his career, roughly 1955-1965.Joey's Harvey Kurtzman collection
Previously:
Source: Boing Boing | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:09 am Guns N' Roses Frontman Axl Rose Growls About Guitar Hero (PC World)PC World - Shame on Activision for poaching Guns N' Roses songs in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. That's band frontman Axl Rose's testy take in a sprawling missive delivered at band fan site Mygnr.com. According to Rose, Activision used GnR songs inappropriately and without proper authorization. While he's doesn't lay out any legal particulars, his "it'll take some sorting" comment has bloggers in a tizzy.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:07 am iPhone thief nailed by MobileMe contact sync
Say what you will about MobileMe, but there’s at least one iPhone owner out there glad that he plunked down $100 bucks for it. Not only did it lead to the return of his stolen iPhone, but it left him with a tale for the e-ages. Here’s how it went down, according to TUAW: One day, a gent named Rob went to the dry cleaners, and somehow managed to walk away one whole iPhone lighter. Disappointed at his loss but sure it was gone for good, Rob cruised over to the Apple store to pick up a new one. He activated iPhone #2, plugged in his MobileMe account info, and went about his business. Source: CrunchGear | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:02 am Dell's Mystery Notebook: Thinner, Lighter Than Air?
That's what New York Times writer Ashlee Vance is speculating, at least. He dug through Dell's trademarks and found a teaser ad of a mystery product called "Adamo." Then he read a rumor claiming Dell is working on a subnotebook that will rival the MacBook Air. And what really got Vance scratching his head was when he interviewed Dell's vice president of marketing, Michael Tatelman. Vance asked him about whether Dell has an Air-like product, and in response Tatelman's mouth gaped open and his eyes darted away. Vance's read? That must mean Dell is working on something even thinner and lighter than the Air. Not a bad assumption. Samsung is already marketing its X360 subnotebook as a competitor to the Air. (The product's slogan is "Lighter than air.") And the X360 is slightly lighter, but still a little thicker than the Air. I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see Dell one-up Apple by offering a laptop both thinner and lighter. On top of that, Dell's super-thin notebook would probably cost substantially less -- by $400, estimates Roger Kay, an endpoint technologies analyst. A thinner, lighter and cheaper MacBook Air? Heck, I would buy one. I would just hope that it's hackable to run OS X. Dell’s Mystery ‘Adamo’ Could Be Thinner Than Air [NYT] Photo: Dell
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:02 am Linux Foundation names new CTO (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - The Linux Foundation has selected a new CTO, Ted Ts'o, who has been known as the first North American developer of the Linux kernel, the foundation said on Thursday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Help select the 100 greatest Looney Tunes
Animation historian Jerry Beck says: I've just posted about my new book project on CARTOON BREW. Source: Boing Boing | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:54 pm Scientist warns: we must establish a Robot Code
Who makes the decision of when a surgery is too complicated to be remote-operated? Will robot nannies (don’t laugh, believe me they’re on their way) have a minimum age with which they can interact? How will combat robots be accountable for causing civilian deaths? These are questions which seem fanciful now, but in 10 years you’ll be wondering why we didn’t ask them 10 years ago. Source: CrunchGear | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:54 pm Researchers Create Graphite Memory 10 Atoms ThickCWmike writes "Researchers at Rice University have demonstrated a new data storage medium made out of a layer of graphite only 10 atoms thick. The technology could potentially provide many times the capacity of current flash memory and withstand temperatures of 200 degrees Celsius and radiation that would make solid-state disk memory disintegrate. 'Though we grow it from the vapor phase, this material [graphene] is just like graphite in a pencil. You slide these right off the end of your pencil onto paper. If you were to place Scotch tape over it and pull up, you can sometimes pull up as small as one sheet of graphene. It is a little under 1 nanometer thick,' Professor James Tour said."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:54 pm iPhone thief nailed by MobileMe contact sync
Say what you will about MobileMe, but there’s at least one iPhone owner out there glad that he plunked down $100 bucks for it. Not only did it lead to the return of his stolen iPhone, but it left him with a tale for the e-ages. Here’s how it went down, according to TUAW: One day, a gent named Rob went to the dry cleaners, and somehow managed to walk away one whole iPhone lighter. Disappointed at his loss but sure it was gone for good, Rob cruised over to the Apple store to pick up a new one. He activated iPhone #2, plugged in his MobileMe account info, and went about his business.
The next day, Rob noticed that a few new contacts had shown up on the second handset. Apparently, the thief hadn’t thought to brush up on his smartphone syncing technologies before walking off with someone else’s stuff. When the thief added his buddies numbers to the phone, MobileMe automatically synced the changes, in turn adding them to Rob’s new iPhone. Rob started ringing up the anomalous numbers; a few calls later (including one to the police), they’d tracked down the handset’s self-imposed new owner. Later that evening, it was back in Rob’s possession. Not unlike many tales of the internet, this one ends with eBay, where he’s selling the recovered handset in hopes of “offsetting the expense of [his] new iPhone, as well as the $150 speeding ticket [he] got rushing down to the Apple Store that night to purchase the new phone”. Could it be a tall tale for the sake of driving eyes to his eBay auction? Sure - but even if it is, he deserves the link for creativity. Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies Source: MobileCrunch | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:52 pm Real-Life “Grand Theft”: Inside Traders Made $250,000 Off of Electronic Arts’ Take-Two Bid [MediaMemo]
Federal prosecutors say they’ve broken up an insider trading ring that scooped up some $4.8 million in illegal gains over a four-year period–some of which came from trades made before EA’s bid for Take-Two became public knowledge. That’d be very lucrative information to have in advance, given that EA was offering a premium of more than 50 percent when it offered to buy the company behind Grand Theft Auto in February. The quick version (longer summary here): The SEC says that Matthew Devlin, formerly a Lehman Brothers. broker, gained information about secret takeover bids from his wife Nina Devlin, who works for the Brunswick Group, a PR firm that specializes in M&A work. He then passed the tips on to his clients, the SEC alleges. The SEC hasn’t charged Nina Devlin with anything. In a statement, her employer says she was unaware of what her husband was up to: “This is a violation of trust between husband and wife. Our employee was the victim of a criminal act by her spouse which made detection extremely difficult despite our high standards of confidentiality.” Electronic Arts’ (ERTS) $2 billion offer for Take-Two (TTWO) was one of 13 deals the trading ring profited on, the SEC says. Unlike most of the other deals, however EA’s proposed purchase never went through. That’s much to the chagrin of ordinary Take-Two investors, who were offered as much as $25.75 per share for stock that’s now trading at less than $9–and just reported dismal results. Source: All Things Digital | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:43 pm Where Is Steve Jobs?
Steve Jobs' absence from the public eye is prompting questions about the Apple CEO's status, management effectiveness and health. So far, the company has done little to provide substantive answers to those questions. The mystery behind the lack of a Stevenote is leading some to speculate that Apple is getting ready to dethrone him, that Jobs has lost some of his typically ironclad control or that his health is failing. "The company can be a little more open about what's happening with Steve Jobs," said Vijay Rakesh, a ThinkPanmure analyst. "It'd help everybody put some uncertainty to rest." Whether he is sick or not, analysts and investors are justified in wanting to know the state of Jobs' health and position at Apple. His management style has been responsible for turning Apple from an also-ran into one of the electronics industry's true success stories. Perhaps recognizing his value, worried investors knocked 7 percent off the company's share price the day after the company announced he would not make his traditional January appearance at Macworld Expo. And business site Breaking Views estimates Jobs himself accounts for about $20 billion of Apple's current market capitalization. "That makes Jobs' absence from an upcoming trade show where he's historically the keynote speaker worrisome, especially amid speculation surrounding his gaunt appearance in the summer," writes Breaking Views' Jeff Segal. Several Apple employees contacted by Wired.com have reported that they haven't seen Jobs since the company announced the CEO would not appear for a Macworld keynote. Jobs generally isn't very visible in public, but the employees said they haven't seen him on campus recently, either. Apple on Tuesday said Jobs would not deliver his traditional keynote at Macworld Expo 2009, reigniting discussion about Jobs' health and his status as CEO. Apple also said 2009 would be the corporation's final appearance at the Macworld trade show -- and said that's why it's not worth Jobs' time to show up. "Phil is giving the keynote because this will be Apple's last year at the show, and it doesn't make sense for us to make a major investment in a trade show we'll no longer be attending," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling told Time. But Dowling's explanation is insufficient. There's no reason that Jobs, who has delivered Macworld keynotes for the past 11 years, would be a "major investment." It's not as though Apple pays Jobs to announce new MacBooks or iPods: He is Apple's face. And why would it be less of an investment for Philip Schiller, senior vice president of marketing, to deliver the Macworld keynote instead of Jobs? Apple's typical vagueness is leading some analysts to believe Jobs will soon leave Apple because his health issues are returning. Rakesh said he believes Apple isn't preparing to simply give Jobs the boot. He said it's more likely that Apple has developed a new executive team, which will gradually transition Jobs out of his role as CEO. "It won't be Jobs staying at home, and starting next day the new guy comes," Rakesh said. "It'll be a transitional overlap -- over the next six months -- until the next team takes over." Similarly, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster on Wednesday distributed a note saying his firm believes Apple is getting ready to shift management roles. "Yielding this year's Macworld keynote to Phil Schiller, along with the participation of Tim Cook and Phil Schiller at the October event is, in our view, a clear message that a leadership shift is underway," Munster said. See Also:
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:40 pm Vote for the Sexiest Geeks of 2008What nerd makes your heart burn with lust? Sexy spectacles, big, um, brains and other key geeky attributes mark this year's nominees — weigh in with your own picks.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:39 pm Cloud Computing for Mobile Devices to Surge in 2009As a growing number of people come to rely on portable devices, such as mobile phones and lightweight laptops, critical data is no longer located solely at home, at the office or in a wallet.But with the help of something called cloud computing, this data can be easily accessed by connecting to the vast memory of the Internet “cloud”. "There's a lot of buzz about this.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:35 pm Bang & Olufsen develops first car audio system for drop tops
Generally, convertible owners concede audio fidelity when the top is down but Bang & Olufsen’s new audio system will should let drivers rock-out topless. The system uses some crazy digital processing that involves a dashboard-mounted microphone that compensates for road noise. Currently the 12 speaker, 10 amp’ed, 500 watt system is only available in Audi’s A5/S5 Cabriolet and the pricing hasn’t been released yet. But it’s a B&O system so it probably sounds like a million bucks and with a price tag to match. Source: CrunchGear | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:18 pm Hot-Selling BlackBerry Storm Back in Stock in Select Stores Friday - First Time Since November 21st LaunchWALNUT CREEK, Calif., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's first touch screen BlackBerry(R) smartphone returns to select Verizon Wireless stores Friday in Northern California just in time for the Holidays.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:10 pm SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry; availability begins on December 30Section: Video, Portable Video, Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile
Anyway, now that we have the release date, what about the compatibility? Initially, the support will be limited to those that are running OS 4.5, which will include the Bold, 8820, Curve 8900, 8320, Pearl Flip 8220 and the Pearl 8120. The client will be available for those in the US, UK and Canada. During the beta period it can be downloaded free of charge, and afterward it will set you back $29.99. Otherwise, according to the device requirements, it is “strongly recommend” that you have either a Wi-Fi or 3G connection in order to stream.
Read [Sling Media] SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry Smartphones Coming December 30th! Dec. 18, 2008—Sling Media, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), is pleased to announce SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry® smartphones will be available for download as part of a public beta beginning Dec. 30, 2008. For information on SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry smartphones including device support, operator support and system requirements, please visit http://www.slingmedia.com/go/blackberry. Sling Media will make SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry smartphones available to Slingbox customers in the U.S., Canada and the UK at launch. SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry smartphones will be available as a free download during the public beta period. The following is a list of BlackBerry smartphones that will be supported at launch.* * BlackBerry Bold SlingPlayer Mobile requires BlackBerry device software 4.5 or greater. To see if your phone meets the minimum requirements, please visit the following URL using your BlackBerry smartphone’s browser: http://mobile.slingmedia.com/go/bbcheck. We will check your BlackBerry smartphone and let you know if it is supported, if it needs a device software upgrade (available from your carrier), or if it is not supported at this time.
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:00 pm It's Time to Raise the Gas TaxWith oil prices at a four-year low, now is the time to act. We must increase the gas tax to cut consumption, generate revenue to repair roads, finance mass transit and and put us on a path toward true energy independence.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:00 pm Wireless Power Consortium Pushes For StandardSlatterz writes "We've already heard about wireless power before, but now we're a step closer to throwing away our power cables and chargers. A consortium of eight companies has launched an initiative to develop a wireless power standard. The drive was announced at the first Wireless Power Consortium conference at the Hong Kong Science Park yesterday. Most consumer electronic devices require a different charger, and the resulting tangle of wires and bulky devices is 'ugly, frustrating and inconvenient to use,' the group said. 'Wireless power charging takes away the need for wires and connectors. You simply drop your mobile phone, game device, electric shaver on the charging station and the battery is recharged,' explained Satoru Nishimura, senior manager at Sanyo."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:59 pm RIP Majel Barrett
Majel Barrett, widow of Gene Roddenberry and the voice of the Enterprise's computers, passed away today at 76. She was gorgeous and charming and awesome. She had recorded the voice work for the upcoming Star Trek movie just two weeks ago. Majel Roddenberry, widow of 'Trek' creator, dies [Mercury News/AP] Image: Space Debris Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:49 pm Student Sentenced to 15 Years for YouTube Terror VideoA 27-year-old Florida university student from Egypt was sentenced to 15 years on Thursday for posting a YouTube video on how to transform a a remote-control toy car from Walmart into a bomb detonator. The defendant, Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, said the United States was "vile."
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:46 pm Review: Online maps can jog better running routes (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:43 pm Nissan 370Z's Downshift Rev Matching: Heel-and-toe shifting for everyone
In a track drive test of the 2009 Nissan 370Z, David Booth describes the new Downshift Rev Matching system available this teeth-grindingly appealing new sports car. But it is, in fact, said manual tranny that is the 370's biggest advancement, at least on the race track. Besides offering better action - shorter, more precise throws - the 370Z offers the world's first Downshift Rev Matching system for a manual transmission. A plethora of sensors in the rear wheels and gearbox precisely matches the engine revs to the next gear down so that each downshift -no matter how quickly executed or at what speed - is absolutely smooth, all without the driver performing the traditional heal-and-toe pas de deux on the gas and brake pedals.I could never quite figure out how to heel-and-toe. People would explain it to me. I'd watch videos. I'd ruin a few clutches. So I will gladly take the ding to my driver's cred to have a car just do the work for me so I can concentrate on my special "point-and-overshoot" style of racing. First Drive: 2009 Nissan 370Z [Autos.Canada.com] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:26 pm T-Mobile drops its handset upgrade feeSection: Communications, Cellular Providers
If you want to upgrade your T-Mobile phone, there won’t be any “handset upgrade fee.“ I’ve never stayed with one carrier long enough to upgrade my phone, so I didn’t even know things like that existed. T-Mobile’s fee was a whopping $18, but that’s now a thing of the past. This is a permanent change and not a promotion for the holidays. See [T-Mobile] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:21 pm Google Shutters Its Science Data ServicesGoogle quietly shuts down its fledgling scientific data service that would have helped scientists handle terabyte-size datasets. The move comes as a surprise to scientists who had been testing the service.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:20 pm Vintage Apple ephemera
Over at Boing Boing Gadgets, Brownlee posts about a well-curated Flickr stream of vintage Apple ads and ephemera. "Vintage Apple ad Flickr stream" Source: Boing Boing | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:07 pm iPlayer Released for Mac, Linux; Adobe Announces AIR for LinuxZoxed writes "The BBC reports that their iPlayer has just been released for Mac and Linux (download page). It is based on Adobe Air, but unfortunately the service is only available to UK IP address, so I can not test it out from my adopted homeland of Germany. Perhaps a UK-based Slashdotter could review it?" In related news, an anonymous reader writes "Adobe has announced a Linux version of its AIR 1.5 runtime environment that is supposed to allow rich web apps developed on it to run on Fedora Core 8, Ubuntu 7.10 and openSuse 10.3 with no modification. The company released versions for Windows and Mac OS X back in November."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:03 pm New BlackWing Projector Flies In, Executives Only Apply
If a gadget looks like a redesigned version of Darth Vader's helmet and comes packed with high-end theater display features, I can almost guarantee it will end up in the sweaty, greedy palms of a G-Labber. Cineversum's new BlackWing One Projector has impressive native features, like three 0.6-inch LCoS panels with a resolution of 1920x1080, and a 15000:1 contrast ratio. But since it’s a premium made-to-order item, it comes with certain special props that are supposed to put it above the regular projector riffraff. For example, the set comes pre-calibrated for a 'best set-up' presentation. As Associate Editor Joe Brown recently noted during an outing at the Wired Store in New York, calibrating displays for best picture quality is an important feature most people don’t know about. Calibration benefits are extensive: Colors are more accurate and lifelike and lost shadow details emerge. Video displays (whether it’s a TV or a projector) are almost never calibrated before shipping. Worse, they are often set-up for retail store presentations, leading to super-bright settings that are difficult to tame if you don't know what you're doing. We haven't checked out the calibration skills of Cineversum, but we're thinking it's careful about getting it right, since anyone buying a $6,500 projector is expecting quality. The BlackWing One has two HDMI 1.3 connections, a brightness reach of 1,400 lumens, and an electronic aperture control for optimizing the contrast, if you feel you can improve upon the house calibration. If you're the bootstrapping type and don’t know much about projectors, you'll be surprised that this one serves as an entry-level tease into the high end market. Cineversum also has even more powerful (and slightly older) BlackWing models retailing for $10,000 and $13,500, respectively. I think that's too much to spend on a home theater at this point, but not everyone is hurting during this economic malaise. If you have the juice to drop that much on a home theater, be my guest, but please make sure to extend an invitation to the Lab. I'll bring the cashews. The BlackWing One is available starting today.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm Spansion Statement on ITC Institutes Investigation on Certain Flash Memory Chips and ProductsSUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The International Trade Commission (ITC) issued its decision to institute an investigation on certain Flash memory chips and products based on a complaint filed by Spansion Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm Mission West Properties, Inc. Declares Fourth Quarter 2008 Dividend and Provides Notification of Quarterly Conference CallCUPERTINO, Calif., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mission West Properties, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm Polaroid Corporation Initiates Financial Restructuring ProcessMINNETONKA, Minn., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Polaroid Corporation and its US subsidiaries today announced the company has filed voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm Online Jihadists Plan for 'Invading Facebook'Online jihadists have already used YouTube, blogs and other social media to spread their propaganda. Now, a group of internet Islamic extremists is putting together a plan for "invading Facebook."
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:53 pm Paternal Care In Birds Linked All The Way Back To DinosaursImage 1: The drawing depicts the Oviraptorid dinosaur Citipati on a nest that was found in the Gobi desert of Mongolia by the American Museum of Natural History. It is one of the specimens studied by Professor Gregory M. Erickson of Florida State University for the Dec. 19 Science paper "Avian Paternal Care Had Dinosaur Origin." Credit: Drawing by Mick Ellison, Copyright American Museum of Natural History, 2008Image 2: Gregory M. Erickson is an associate professor of anatomy and vertebrate paleobiology at the Florida State University. Credit: Florida State UniversityImage 3: The photo depicts the Oviraptorid dinosaur Citipati on a nest that was found in the Gobi desert of Mongolia by the American Museum of Natural History. It is one of the specimens studied by Professor Gregory M. Erickson of Florida State University for the Dec. 19 Science paper "Avian Paternal Care Had Dinosaur Origin." Credit: Photo by Mick Ellison, Copyright American Museum of Natural History, 2008Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:47 pm CC licensed book uses Bauhaus to teach design softwareMichael Mandiberg sez,Digital Foundations is IN PRINT!, Digital Foundations on Amazon (Thanks, Michael!) Source: Boing Boing | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:44 pm UPI NewsTrack Health and Science NewsNASA to take part in inaugural parade WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration says it has been invited to march in President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural parade Jan.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:44 pm Nobel Jurors Investigated For BriberyA Swedish prosecutor said Thursday that Nobel Prize jurors are under investigation on suspicion of bribery for accepting all-expense-paid visits to China in 2006 and 2008 to discuss the awards.Nils-Erik Schultz said he opened the probe to determine whether the trips were intended to sway the decisions of the Nobel committees. The anti-corruption prosecutor declined to name the jurors or specify how many were under investigation.The Nobel Prizes are awarded annually, and honor achievements in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature, economics and peace.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:33 pm Special offer from CRAFT magazine
CRAFT, the sibling publication to MAKE, has a discounted subscription rate from now till the end of December. $24.95 US
If you're looking for a last minute gift for a crafty pal, this is a great deal, because the cover price for a single copy is $14.95. Here's the link to the discounted subscription.
Source: Boing Boing | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:30 pm Obama Rumored to Pick Climate Change Wonk as Science AdviserPresident-elect Barack Obama is rumored to have picked a former physicist who is an environmental policy expert at Harvard University as the new administration's science adviser.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:15 pm Indian GPS Cartographers Charged As Terroristschrb writes "Following on from the discussion about Apple disabling GPS in Egyptian iPhones, we have a new case of the conflict between the traditional secrecy of government, and the widening availability of cheap, accurate GPS devices around the world. On 5th December, two software engineers employed by Biond Software in India were arrested for mapping highways using vehicle based GPS devices. Further evidence against the pair emerged when it was found that a laptop they had been using in the car contained some photos of the local airforce base. The company claims they had been commissioned by Nokia Navigator to create maps of local roads and terrain. Following an investigation by the Anti Terrorist Squad of Gujarat the cartographers have now been charged with violating the Official Secrets Act and will remain in custody."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:07 pm I, Nanny: Robot Babysitters Pose DilemmaThe future full of robots to do everything for us, including watching our kids, is here. Roboticist Noel Sharkey talks about the potential pitfalls and harm that could come from leaving child rearing to robots.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:02 pm Solar Car Crosses World-Tour Finish LineA Swiss engineer completes the first ever round-the-world trip in a solar car.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:00 pm Linux gets Adobe AIRSection: Computers, Software / Applications
Up until recently, Adobe AIR was fully developed for Mac and Windows. Today, Adobe AIR 1.5 works with Linux. So if you’ve got an older PC or just like running Linux, you’ve got a whole new bunch of software to check out. Go pick up a to-do list, an RSS ticker, or a new media player for AIR. If you’re new to Air or just looking for more apps, check out RefreshingApps.com Read [Press Release] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:00 pm Battlestar Galactica, Series 0, S1E1
(Thanks, Fitley!) Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:50 pm Planet Waves DIY Kit Makes Your Wire Mess ManagableYou know what I want for Christmas? Not an iPhone, not a 72-inch laser powered tyranno-vision TV, not even a pair of Star Wars themed underwear (Boba Fett went commando, baby!) No, what I want is for the back of my home entertainment center NOT to look like the horrific offspring of the Cthulhu and the Kraken. You know what I'm talking about. It's a rich tapestry that looks something like this:
The only stumbling block is the inexplicable price. The Advanced kit is $150 for what basically amounts to forty bucks worth of parts. But if you're serious about reducing clutter behind your home theater system and think twist ties are far too commonplace, by all means, pick one of these kits up.
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:49 pm Strange soccer fashion video from the 1970sPlease enjoy this strange 1970s German video about football (soccer) uniforms. Deeplystrange. Bundesliga Fashion (via Iowahawk, thanks COOP!) Source: Boing Boing | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:49 pm Examining The Effects Of Ocean Acidification On Marine EcosystemsConcern about increasing ocean acidification has often focused on its potential effects on coral reefs, but broader disruptions of biological processes in the oceans may be more significant, according to Donald Potts, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an expert in coral reef ecology and marine biodiversity.Potts gave an invited talk on "Geobiological Responses to Ocean Acidification" at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco on Wednesday, December 17.Ocean acidification is one of the side effects of the rising concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:48 pm CES Trend Watch: Fujitsu N7010 laptop nestles a tiny screen above its keyboard
Here's one of the trends you're going to see at CES this year: laptops with small, secondary displays inside. And here's a good example: the Fujitsu Lifebook N7010, with a small (but relatively high-resolution) touchscreen just above the keyboard. We also can tell you that another notebook manufacturer will be showing a laptop with a tiny screen that pops out of the side. GBM InkShow: Fujitsu N7010 and Secondary Display [GottaBeMobile.com via Engadget] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:45 pm Could Early Climate Impact Have Diverted New Glacial Age?The common wisdom is that the invention of the steam engine and the advent of the coal-fueled industrial age marked the beginning of human influence on global climate.But gathering physical evidence, backed by powerful simulations on the world's most advanced computer climate models, is reshaping that view and lending strong support to the radical idea that human-induced climate change began not 200 years ago, but thousands of years ago with the onset of large-scale agriculture in Asia and extensive deforestation in Europe.What's more, according to the same computer simulations, the cumulative effect of thousands of years of human influence on climate is preventing the world from entering a new glacial age, altering a clockwork rhythm of periodic cooling of the planet that extends back more than a million years."This challenges the paradigm that things began changing with the Industrial Revolution," says Stephen Vavrus, a climatologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Climatic Research and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:43 pm Climate change slows acid rain recoveryWelsh scientists say a 25-year study suggests climate change might be hampering the recovery of Earth's rivers from the effects of acid rainfall. The research by Cardiff University Professor Steve Ormerod and biosciences researcher Isabelle Durance was undertaken in 14 middle-Wales rivers and involved assessing the number and variety of stream insects present each year.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:40 pm NASA signs agreement with rocket companyThe U.S. space agency says it has signed an agreement that might lead to testing of a new plasma-based propulsion system at the International Space Station. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Ad Astra Rocket Co. of Webster, Texas, signed the Space Act Agreement.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:38 pm Climate Change Could Have Dramatic Effect On Water SuppliesIt's no simple matter to figure out how regional changes in precipitation, expected to result from global climate change, may affect water supplies.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:37 pm Environmentalists sue over rare flowerEnvironmental groups have sued federal agencies seeking protection for a flower found only on oil shale on the Utah-Colorado border. The plaintiffs, in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Denver, say that Graham's penstemon, a member of the snapdragon family, qualifies for protection under the Endangered Species Act.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:35 pm Toshiba To Launch First 512GB Solid State Drivedesignperfection9 writes "Toshiba said Thursday that it will show off a new line up of NAND-flash-based solid state drives with the industry's first 2.5-inch 512GB SSD. The drive is based on a 43 nanometer Multi-Level Cell NAND and claims to offer a high level of performance and endurance for use in notebooks as well as gaming and home entertainment systems."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:16 pm Dell Adamo: Even thinner than the MacBook Air? The New York Times' Ashlee Vance thinks she's uncovered a new Dell laptop, the "Adamo", that will be even smaller than the MacBook Air:But most telling of all might have been the reaction of Michael Tatelman, Dell’s vice president in charge of consumer sales and marketing, to my question about whether or not Dell had an Air-like product in store. Mr. Tatelman’s mouth gaped open and his eyes darted away from my face.This is exactly the sort of inference that I am genuinely happy to see someone publish. Dell’s Mystery ‘Adamo’ Could Be Thinner Than Air [Bits.Blogs.NYTimes.com] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:15 pm Apple heading into some rough times? Recent conference news round-upFROM APPLETELL - It seems as if there has been a lot of news lately about Apple. Usually, this is a good thing. Recently, it seems as if most of this news is negative in one way or another. With health concerns, keynote absences, and cancellations, this can’t be good for Apple’s… MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article » Source: Gadgetell | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:02 pm Go Team Lithium Battery!An alliance of companies are working together with the U.S. government to create lithium battery capable of easily powering electric vehicles. The National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Battery Cell Manufacture was modeled after SEMATECH, the successful public-private venture created in the late 1980s to restore U.S. prominence in computer semiconductor technology.Godspeed. U.S. government lab, 14 firms team up on lithium battery [Reuters] Source: Boing Boing Gadgets | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:01 pm Head-Banging Bad for the BrainRocking out to a heavy metal tempo can cause mild traumatic brain injury, a study shows.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:00 pm TechCrunch’s Yertle the Turtle Tantrum Over News Embargoes [BoomTown]
[UPDATE below.] Yesterday, the one-man-band of a tech blogger, Michael Arrington, let loose with yet another outrageously indignant diatribe–this time that he and his TechCrunch site would forthwith break all news embargoes. Not content with the traffic generated last week by his obviously faked Wrestlemania bout with French entrepreneur Loïc Le Meur about the lazy-lunching Europeans, he moved on to a more promising, but ultimately meaningless, riff on PR people versus journalists, over embargo-breaking. It’s a sure-fire hit, given tech PR people and bloggers obsessively monitor Techmeme. (What next for the Geraldo Rivera of investigative tech blogging? A withering prosecution of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang in the HOV lane on Highway 101 in Sunnyvale without a hybrid? Quelle scandale!) But BoomTown is not going to do a thumbsucker response to TechCrunch’s news embargo jihad, because, well, who really cares about the details of PR-media interaction anyway (except those who take themselves way too seriously)? Here’s the essential 411 you’ll need to know: Some embargoes are good and some are bad and some are just–how can I phrase this correctly?–whatever. And let’s be honest, pretty much everyone has broken an embargo, either by accident or on purpose. But Arrington’s ire about this seems overwrought, and I suspect the true crankiness is natural product of the end cycle of dopey Web 2.0 “exclusives,” which TechCrunch has gotten in droves. And all of it is increasingly less important as the economy withers and a lot of the less sustainable start-ups fade away. There are big important stories happening in tech right now about major public companies, the state of innovation and the future of the industry, which require more serious journalism. So I think we can all imagine a day very soon when the Web 2.0 echo chamber dissipates–as it inevitably did in Web 1.0–and no one goes nuts if Start-up X adds a new embeddable widget, Start-up Y changes its homepage design or Start-up Z contemplates a new social-networking site for dogs to gain a new revenue stream. And, in a less frothy landscape, the more important exclusives now go out to many. For example, consider yesterday’s story on LinkedIn’s changing of the guard, which went out to a dozen news outlets in advance rather than to just one like TechCrunch alone. Of course, the true exclusives that a tech site gets through enterprise reporting take hard work and no handouts, which TechCrunch does legitimately get. Yesterday, in fact, TechCrunch’s Robin Wauters got a few really good ones about product units Yahoo is cutting. But in this bruising contest, TechCrunch clearly does not dominate, based on its size, as it did with the easier press release exclusives. In the new environment, in fact, tiny little voices that are accurate and insightful have just as much impact. So, my takeaway from Arrington’s rant could be boiled down to three words: “GIVE ME EXCLUSIVES!” That verbal stamping of foot brought to my mind the loud declarations of Dr. Seuss’s “Yertle the Turtle.” In the story, Yertle wants to be higher than anyone, so he forces the other turtles to pile up under him in an ever-unwieldy tower to rule over everyone and everything. It ends badly, of course, when Yertle asks for too much:
We’re all in the mud now, TechCrunch. But come on in–the water’s just as fine. [UPDATE: Now Arrington is going for the full cup full of crazy by attacking an admittedly obnoxious PR lady, getting all hot and bothered by spam she sends with the kind of indignation I like to reserve for the vile terrorists in Mumbai or wife beaters. Oh, dear. Then again, the rest of us can concentrate on real stories, while he busies himself huffing and puffing away on his anti-PR sousaphone.] Source: All Things Digital | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:48 pm T-Mobile kills off upgrade fees, wants to keep customers
It’s about effing time that one of the major mobile companies realizes that the best way to retain customers is to not treat us like crap! For as long as I can remember, cell carriers (and other types of service providers, like Comcast) have gone out of their respective ways to generate new business. However, once you get “locked in,” companies essentially ignore their existing customers and instead focus all the majority of their public/customer relations on potential new clients. As competition increases and customer choices continue to expand, it is in all the mobile carriers’ best interests to turn (at least a good part of) their attention to keeping current customers happy. And really, why wouldn’t they want to promote more regular hardware upgrades? $18 might not be the end of the world, but it definitely stops a huge number of people from buying the latest and greatest mobile toy device. Even if handset sales make up a minority of a company’s profits, keeping one’s customers content and satisfied is invaluable (and profitable in the long run). [via TmoNews and Phonescoop] Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: MobileCrunch | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:43 pm LG KP500 Cookie launches in Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, and the UK It’s been a few months since we first heard about the LG KP500 “Cookie”, but it has finally made its way onto the shelves in various parts of the world. Even after all this time, I still have a little bit of trouble calling the phone the “Cookie” without hurting a little inside. As expected, the Check out the promo video after the jump, complete with a girl air-piano’ing Mozart in the creepiest way possible.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: MobileCrunch | 18 Dec 2008 | 6:58 pm Mac OS X on Netbooks: What Works, What Doesn't
Netbook hacking is becoming increasingly trendy -- especially installing Mac OS X on the dinky things since Apple refuses to offer its own Mac netbook. Our friend Rob Beschizza at Boing Boing Gadgets slapped together a pretty useful chart (above) rounding up all the netbooks that can be hacked to run OS X -- and which features work fine and which don't. He even cites a few how-to guides written by Wired.com: our tutorials on installing OS X on an Asus Eee PC and the Samsung NC 10. Interested in hacking your netbook? We've got even more reading material below. See Also:
Image: BBG
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 18 Dec 2008 | 5:40 pm Sling Your BlackBerry
SlingPlayer Mobile lets users with Wi-Fi or 3G watch TV programming and access on-demand content from TiVo or their media players such as Apple TV on their phones. For now, the beta will be a free download to users in U.S., Canada and U.K. Though Sling hasn't said how much the software will ultimately cost, expect it to be around $30. Research In Motion's latest touchscreen phone Storm won't be supported but the Bold, Curve 8900 and the Pearl phones will be compatible with the new player. Photo: (Jerermy Toeman/Flickr)
Source: Wired: Gadget Lab | 18 Dec 2008 | 5:39 pm “Cupcake” roadmap tells tales of video recording, stereo bluetooth and more coming to Android
Oh, Android - How do I love thee? Let me count the ways; I love that you’ve essentially eliminated the need to hypothesize what might be coming in future firmware updates as, due to your open source nature, it’s put out there for all to see. I love that.. well, there are other reasons, but none relevant to this post. No offense, Android. In the recently published roadmap for the work-in-progress “Cupcake” Android development branch, a laundry list of bugs fixes and coming features is on display.
The big things on the feature front:
Stereo bluetooth, onscreen keyboards, video recording.. that covers a huge chunk of the gripes people have with the platform. No word yet on how (one big update? lots of little ones?) or when all of this will be rolled out (we’ll go ahead and assume the ETA is “When it’s done”), but it’s good to know whats on the way. They also detail bug fixes across the board, from the depths of the framework to the camera and the music player. If you want to give the list a glance to see if your (least) favorite bug is getting nixed, you can check it out in full here. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: MobileCrunch | 18 Dec 2008 | 5:16 pm More upcoming Motorola ‘09 phone hotness We were treated to some upcoming Motorola phones 24 hours ago and now we have three more via the Boy Genius. Also like yesterday, details like price, release date, and OS are absent, but at least we have some great pics. The Niagra, pictured above, has some RAZR juice running through its circuit. The other two phones, Calgary and Harmony, are destined to become “free phones.” (pics after the jump) That Niagra though; hot.
 Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies Source: MobileCrunch | 18 Dec 2008 | 4:31 pm Death to the embargo, CrunchGear MobileCrunch edition
(Biggs posted this on our sister site, CrunchGear. In hopes of slowing the barrage of e-mails and IMs, I’m posting it here, too. -Greg) I’ve been a full-time blogger for nigh on five years and a journalist for almost ten. In all those years I’ve signed NDAs and followed embargoes with reckless abandon, potentially John Hancock-ing my life away just so I could look at a new camera. Why did I do this? Because I knew that the PR process was broken but I was happy following along. Most of the embargoes I agreed to were for products I wouldn’t have written about early - or at all - even if I didn’t have the full power of the People’s Court hanging over me. NDAs and embargoes are a gentleman’s agreement between the journalist and the PR professional designed for a time when it took four days to get from Scranton to Philadelphia by horse. By creating an embargo, you gave Joe Blow at the Flushing Daily Bee the same chance to write up a story as Jimmy Reporterpants at the New York Times. NDAs were designed to keep reporters from blabbing about what they saw and giving up their secrets to the competitors. Both concepts are broken and here’s our current policy.
Embargoes - We will keep them, based on a handshake agreement (we won’t sign them unless we like you), and we will break them if we even have an inkling that the story might go live early or if we feel like. If that’s a problem, we’re happy to wait until the product launches officially and write about it five seconds after the Internet. We will do a bad job of it, not having been privy to the information beforehand, but that’s the price we have to pay for our principles. NDAs - We won’t sign them. If your client is so worried their going to lose out to a competitor then let us suggest to your client that they close shop. Unless they’re Apple, most of their employees are disgruntled and would tell their innermost secrets for a Klondike bar. Don’t place your success in the hands of an unruly mob of overweight word diddlers. What of my other writing gigs? The New York Times does not officially want me sign embargoes or NDAs. I cleared this up with an editor a month or so ago. Again, I want you to be happy so if you tell me not to write about something within a certain time-frame I’m happy to oblige. But I’m not going to worry if something comes out late or early. There’s a war on and we’re in a financial crisis. Your cellphone isn’t that important. The same goes for MobileCrunch - ask us about an embargo. Heck, IM us about it. We’ll agree, but God help you if the information gets leaked early. We, as a rule, won’t be doing the leaking, but if we’re in a foul mood we might. We’ve been good boys and girls for years but we’re tired and cranky and our boss has sent down an edict from on high. Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors Source: MobileCrunch | 18 Dec 2008 | 4:21 pm Seven Penguins Considered for ProtectionSix penguin species may get threatened status and one may become endangered.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 4:16 pm 12seconds.tv rolls into public beta, launches iPhone application
When we wrote about 12seconds.tv back in July of this year, we called it the “real video Twitter“. Rather than droning on for 19 hours on what they had for lunch, users of 12seconds.tv have - you guessed it - 12 seconds to get their point across on video. Later this morning, 12seconds will be making the transition from invite-only alpha to public beta, opening their registration to all. They are also debuting a brand new iPhone application, which mixes things up a bit to allow users to create new 12seconds posts without violating Apple’s policies against recording video.
Due to API restrictions in place with the iPhone SDK, developers are currently unable to implement video recording functionality into their app without relinquishing any hope that the release will make it into Apple’s App Store, damning their offerings to the land of the jailbreak. As a next-best-thing solution, 12seconds has come up with a fairly crafty alternative to video for iPhone users: slideshows. After plugging in their login credentials, users are asked to hand over three photos (either from their photo library, or snapped on the spot), and then record 12 seconds of audio to act as narration for the slideshow. The application then throws the photos together, dubs the audio on top, and publishes it online with the title and tags you punched in. Check out the video demonstration down below. It’s not the ultimate solution, but it’s about as good as it gets until Cupertino catches up with their user base’s desires and changes their policies on video recording. The 12seconds application will set you back 99¢ which, while it won’t hurt your laundry fund, seems a bit odd. iPhone applications purposed for use with specific social sites tend to be offered up gratis as a method of bringing new users to the service. It seems like attaching a price tag to the application would limit the customer base to those already familiar enough with 12seconds to hand over a buck. That said, I’d imagine that 12seconds will already be seeing a lot of growth over the next few weeks with registration opening up. If the iPhone app is a success with 12seconds users, it should start moving up Apple’s promotional app lists, which might just get it in front of enough eyes to cancel out any limiting effects of the entry fee.
Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Source: MobileCrunch | 18 Dec 2008 | 3:57 pm America's Meat Habit Feeds Gulf Dead ZoneThe ever-booming meat industry is mostly responsible for the Gulf dead zone.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 3:51 pm Space Shuttles Up For GrabsNASA announces the soon-to-be-retired space shuttles will be available for display.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 3:35 pm Dinosaur Baby Boom Hit Cretaceous KoreaFossilized eggs suggest dinos chose special "nursery" areas to start a family.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 2:35 pm High-Energy Jumbo Squid at Risk With WarmingRising CO2 levels in the oceans is likely to make the Humboldt squid lethargic.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 2:20 pm More upcoming Motorola ‘09 phone hotness
We were treated to some upcoming Motorola phones 24 hours ago and now we have three more. Also like yesterday, details like price, release date, and OS are absent, but at least we have some great pics. The Niagra, pictured above, has some RAZR juice running through its circuit. The other two phones, Calgary and Harmony, are destined to become “free phones.” (pics after the jump) That Niagra though; hot.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0 Source: MobileCrunch | 18 Dec 2008 | 1:18 pm
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Hamburg, Germany based 
Y Combinator startup 
Today Yahoo 
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A company called WAAV and the MBTA (the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) are putting Wi-Fi on commuter trains. This access will be provided for free. All of this will be completed in 2009.
There’s a lot of money going out the door for the auto makers (well, maybe) and more so for the finance business, so I think it’s wise for some of the less bubble-orientated sectors to point out now just how little they need to establish or reinvigorate themselves. Public radio could use a boost, space programs are comparatively cheap, and now 
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“We’re working through an undeniably difficult period.” That’s what Palm CEO Ed Colligan had to say about the company’s second-quarter earnings today. An honest admission, but something of a euphemism given Palm’s 
It’s true, of course, and not just from a Sci-Fi point of view. With robots doing everything from vacuuming our floors to storing our data to performing surgery, there is a growing need for an international body to establish standards. If, 
It was almost one year ago that we first saw the 
One of the troubles of using many different operating systems is finding replacement applications for your platform. Adobe AIR is out there to solve that. If you don’t know about Adobe AIR, you install it on your computer and then download apps that work on AIR. AIR is a free download.
Good news, T-Mobile fanboys and girls! T-Mobile will no longer be charging customers its customary $18 ‘Handset Upgrade Fee’ when they want to buy a new mobile device (but apparently it 
